Huron Consulting, Chicago, saw business flag in the first quarter, though revenue from its $325.5 million acquisition of healthcare consultants the Studer Group helped offset some of the decline.
Huron acquired the Studer Group in February and the deal added $11.4 million in revenue to Huron's operations for the first quarter. Still, Huron reported revenue dropped roughly 11% to $187.8 million in the first quarter from $210.7 million for the same three months the year before.
Huron attributed most of the drop in revenue to its legal consulting arm. Legal consulting revenue declined 39% $33.4 million in the first quarter, compared with the prior-year period.
But healthcare consulting revenue was also down. Healthcare revenue slid roughly 9% to $98 million.
Meanwhile, Huron has added 120 consultants—nearly all in healthcare—since the first quarter of 2014.
The healthcare revenue decline was in part due to the timing of its contracts, the company said in financial filings.
“While lower than the prior year results, we believe our first-quarter performance is consistent with the path needed to achieve our full-year guidance,” James Roth, Huron's CEO, said in a news release. “Our Huron Healthcare segment had lower revenue, primarily reflecting project timing as overall demand for our healthcare services remains solid, especially in areas impacting population health, and cost and quality initiatives.”
The consulting company ended the quarter with $8.8 million in operating income and $1.5 million in net income. That's compared with $41.8 million in operating income and $34.1 million in net income in the first quarter of 2014.
Huron's healthcare segment operating income dropped 43% to $29 million in the first quarter, thanks to an increase in salaries and bonuses and intangible-asset amortization expenses from the Studer Group deal.
