PJT Partners Q3 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

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Provided by Quartr
October 31, 2023

Key Takeaways

  • Record 9-month revenue of $825 million, up 11% year-over-year, as increased restructuring fees more than offset declines in PJT Park Hill and Strategic Advisory.
  • Third-quarter revenue of $278 million (+5% YoY) reflected a significant rise in restructuring revenues alongside continued weakness in PJT Park Hill and Strategic Advisory.
  • The firm expects full-year revenues to be the highest in its history despite volatile markets, tighter monetary conditions, and geopolitical uncertainty.
  • Restructuring business momentum remains strong, driven by higher rates, restrictive credit conditions, and a wave of corporates seeking balance-sheet repair.
  • PJT has hired 17 partners and MDs YTD across key industries and plans continued recruiting into 2024, which will pressure near-term margins but bolster long-term growth.
AI Generated. May Contain Errors.
Earnings Conference Call
PJT Partners Q3 2023
00:00 / 00:00

There are 6 speakers on the call.

Operator

Good day, and welcome to the PJT Partners Third Quarter 2023 Earnings Call. Today's conference is being recorded. At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Sharon Pearson, Head of Investor Relations. Please go ahead, ma'am.

Speaker 1

Thanks very much, Todd. Good morning, and welcome to the PJT Partners Third Quarter 2023 Earnings Conference Call. I'm Sharon Pearson, Head of Investor Relations at PJT Partners. And joining me today are Paul Taubman, our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer and Alan Meats, our Chief Financial Officer. Before I turn the call over to Paul, I want to point out that during the course of this conference call, We may make a number of forward looking statements.

Speaker 1

These forward looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties, and there are important factors that could cause actual outcomes to differ materially from those indicated in these statements. We believe that these factors are described in the Risk Factors section contained in PJT Partners' 2022 Form 10 ks, which is available on our website atpjtpartners.com. I want to remind you that the company assumes no duty to update any forward looking statements and that the presentation we make today contains non GAAP financial measures, which we believe are meaningful in evaluating the company's performance. Release we issued this morning also available on our website. And with that, I'll turn the call over to Paul.

Speaker 2

Thank you, Sharon, and thank you all for joining us Before we turn our attention to our financial results, please allow me to make a few comments. This month, the world has witnessed barbaric unspeakable acts perpetrated by a terrorist organization against civilians in Israel. We express our outrage against such acts and we had our voice calling for the immediate release of those held hostage. We see the extraordinary suffering of innocent civilians in Israel and Gaza and we are heartbroken. In an effort to do our part, PJT is committing funds to aid humanitarian relief efforts in Israel and Gaza.

Speaker 2

Now turning to our results. We continue to operate in a difficult environment as Higher rates, tighter monetary conditions, increased economic uncertainty and a far geopolitical landscape all the way on markets globally. These pressures continue to dampen capital formation and global M and A activity with equity issuance levels and current M and A volumes down to levels comparable to a decade or so ago. In contrast, this year, the number of U. S.

Speaker 2

Bankruptcy filings is tracking to levels not previously reached in more than a decade. Against this backdrop, our unique combination of businesses and collaborative team approach delivered superior outcomes for clients and outperformance for our firm. Our 9 month revenues grew 11% year over year with a record $825,000,000 in revenues. After Helen takes you through our financial results, I will review our performance by business, Provide more detail on our recruiting efforts and update our full year outlook. Helen?

Speaker 1

Thank you, Paul. Good morning. Beginning with revenues, total revenues for the Q3 were $278,000,000 up 5% year over year. A significant increase in restructuring revenues more than offset continued weakness in PJT Paykel and lower revenues in Strategic Advisory compared to year ago levels. Total revenues that met the criteria To be pulled forward in the Q3, we're approximately $5,000,000 compared with approximately $3,000,000 in the same period last year.

Speaker 1

For the 9 months ended September 30, total revenues were $825,000,000 as Paul mentioned, a record 1st 9 months and an increase of 11% year over year. A significant increase in restructuring revenues more than offset a Significant decline in PJT Park Hill and a modest decline in Strategic Advisory compared to year ago levels. Turning to expenses consistent with prior quarters, we presented the expenses with certain non GAAP adjustments, which are more fully described in our 8 ks. 1st adjusted compensation expense. We have continued to accrue adjusted compensation expense at 69 point 5% of revenues for the 1st 9 months of the year.

Speaker 1

This ratio represents our current expectation for the full year 2023. Turning to adjusted non compensation expense. Total adjusted non compensation expense was $41,000,000 for the 3rd quarter, up $4,000,000 year over year and $122,000,000 for the 9 months, up $13,000,000 year over year. As a percentage of revenues, adjusted non compensation expense was 14.8% for both the 3rd quarter 9 month periods. Adjusted non compensation expense grew 12% in the 1st 9 months of the year compared to the same period last year and we expect the full year growth rate as well as increased travel and entertainment expense.

Speaker 1

We reported adjusted pretax income of $44,000,000 for the Q3 and $130,000,000 for the 1st 9 months. Our adjusted pre tax margin was 15.7% for

Speaker 2

both The

Speaker 1

3rd quarter 9 month periods. This compares to 20.3% and 21.4% for the 3 9 month periods last year. The provision for taxes as with prior quarters, we presented our results as if all partnership units had been converted to shares and that all of our income was taxed at a corporate tax rate. Our effective tax rate for the 1st 9 months of 2023 was 26.7% and we expect this to be our effective tax rate for the full year. Earnings per share, our adjusted if converted earnings was $0.78 for the Q3 and $2.30 per share for the 1st 9 months.

Speaker 1

On the share count for the quarter, our weighted average share count was 41 point 4,000,000 shares, including the exchange of partnership units for cash, our repurchases in the 1st 9 months with $355,000,000 in cash, cash equivalents and short term investments and $370,000,000 in net working capital and we have no funded debt outstanding. Finally, the Board has approved a dividend of $0.25 per share. The dividend will be paid on December 20, 2023 to Class A common shareholders of record as of December 6. I'll turn it back to Paul.

Speaker 2

Thank you, Helen. Beginning with restructuring. We're experiencing a wave of As many companies grapple with an increasing array of challenges, pressured business models, We continue to believe that this balance sheet repair cycle will persist for an extended period of time. As the pressure on business models becomes more broad based and more companies are impacted by higher interest rates and more restrictive credit conditions. Consistent with this commentary, our world class Restructuring business continued its Strong momentum and leadership position with revenues for the 3 months 9 month periods up substantially compared to year ago levels.

Speaker 2

Turning to PJT Park Hill. The fundraising environment for Investments remains extremely challenging with the hangover from record 2021 fundraising Continuing to constrain investor appetite for new commitments. Subdued IPO and M and A activity has further weighed our new fundraising activity due to the anemic pace of capital return. As a result, many new fundraisers are being scaled down and taking considerably longer to complete. Against this backdrop, our 3 9 month revenues in PJT Park Hill were down significantly year on year.

Speaker 2

Turning to Strategic Advisory. Notwithstanding the recent spate of M and A activity, 2023 is shaping up to be the lowest level of deal making in nearly a decade. And When measured as a percentage of global GDP and global market capitalization, M and A activity is at unprecedented low levels. Our Strategic Advisory business is not immune to the slowdown with revenues down for both the 3 9 month periods. However, our business continues to perform well on a relative basis with revenue declines meaningfully less than declines in overall M and A activity.

Speaker 2

While it is always perilous to call the bottom of any market, We have the utmost confidence that market conditions will improve and that global M and A volumes will, in turn, We turn to levels more in line with historical relationships to global GDP and global market capitalization. Our focus remains on ensuring that we are well positioned for the inevitable market recovery. To that end, we remain actively engaged with clients on a broad array of strategic topics. Our pipeline of mandates has steadily grown throughout and is meaningfully stronger today than it was at the beginning of the year. Turning to talent.

Speaker 2

We continue to expand our capabilities through the addition of high quality talent. We previously communicated that this would be our most consequential Hiring year ever as the subdued M and A marketplace presents us with a unique opportunity to accelerate the pace of Senior Hiring. Year to date, we have hired 17 partners and MDs, Strengthening our market position across many industry verticals, including consumer, healthcare, industrials, Infrastructure and Technology. We expect these elevated recruiting levels to continue into 2024. We remain steadfast in our focus on long term shareholder value and view this recruiting While we expect substantial returns from these recruiting efforts over the intermediate Long term, these investments will pressure margins in the near term.

Speaker 2

As we look ahead, We expect our full year revenues to be the highest in our firm's history, notwithstanding extraordinarily volatile markets and significant macro headwinds. We remain confident that the businesses we continue to build and integrate Position us to weather this challenging environment and to thrive as market conditions improve. Our balanced set of businesses enables us to provide clients with differentiated advice and reward shareholders with differentiated performance. And with that, we will now take your questions.

Speaker 3

Thank

Operator

you. Our first question will come from Devin Ryan with JMP Securities. Please go ahead.

Speaker 3

Great. Good morning, everyone. How are you guys?

Speaker 2

We're real well, Devin. Thank you.

Speaker 3

Good. I want to start on the restructuring business strength. Clearly, you're seeing Nice contribution year to date. And I think your restructuring results are kind of hitting earlier than some of your peers where we're tracking growing mandates, but they've yet See much uplift there so far. So just want to get a sense whether you feel like that's mix.

Speaker 3

I understand you have a leading business here, but just Got it. Why it's coming in earlier? And then, Paul, it does sound like you're still pretty bullish on the potential for this business and could remain structurally higher. So I'm just trying to think about whether that could actually mean growth for PJT from what are good levels or if we're just kind of in a higher baseline right now and

Speaker 2

during cycle, and we've talked about this for some period of time. I think there are many businesses that were substantially weakened as a result of COVID. There was an environment where companies that were overleveraged had extraordinarily benign access to capital, seemingly low interest rates. None of those sort of light drafts are available today. And as we look at the dialogues that we're having The mandates that we're winning, we have conviction that this balance sheet repair cycle It's going to have legs.

Speaker 2

Now like any cycle, it has ebbs and flows. So every day is not just simply So a pickup in activity, but we do believe taking a step back that these elevated levels should continue For some period of time as access to capital becomes more difficult as companies need to deal with Near term maturities and as what we believe will be an economic slowdown continues to affect Business Models and Business Performance. So that's kind of where we see the world.

Speaker 3

Okay. Great color. Thanks, Paul. And then just a follow-up here, I guess, on just Expense ratio. So revenues are up 11% year to date, comp expense is up about 20% year to date.

Speaker 3

I know it's Not quite this scientific, but I don't know if it's possible just to break down on comps specifically, just how much of that growth is a function of Just amortization from prior year versus all the recruiting and the most consequential year of hiring that's going to be this year versus just how much is just inflation and competitive dynamics? Just trying to think about that relationship. Thanks.

Speaker 1

Look, I think there's a number of there are a number of components to the comp ratio, Devin, as you mentioned. But we sort of begin with what our outlook is for revenues. And one significant factor is the senior level hiring that we're doing that we've So that will obviously impact it. We also think about comp discipline around the existing population that compares a backdrop. And then as you mentioned, there is amortization from prior year's comps that will be flowing through as well.

Speaker 1

So all those factors are taken into account When we determine what our best estimate for the ratio is.

Speaker 2

I think, Devin, if you just look back over the last 3 years, we have a demonstrably stronger firm Then what we presented 3 years ago, we have gainfully grown the headcount, We're operating in market environments for 2 of our 3 businesses that are extraordinarily subdued relative to 3 years ago. So when You step back and you look at the significant investment, the strengthening of the franchise and The very significant reduction in available wallet in 2 of our 3 businesses, it's not a surprise that the comp ratio No, it has moved higher.

Speaker 3

Yes, understood. Okay. I will leave it there. Thanks very much.

Speaker 2

Thank you, Devin.

Operator

Thank you. Our next question will come from James Yaro with Goldman Sachs. Please go ahead.

Speaker 4

Good morning and thank you for taking my questions. Paul, maybe we could just start with the macro backdrop and how this is impacting Your business, we obviously have more geopolitical uncertainty as you've alluded to, higher rates and obviously a coming U. S. Election. So maybe you could

Operator

just talk about What that

Speaker 4

means for the M and A inflection and perhaps the cadence or timeline for which or over which we See return to normalized levels of M and A.

Speaker 2

Look, we came into this year, James, with perhaps the most sober Assessment of the M and A marketplace and we assume that this would be another down year in The market, I think notwithstanding that, it was probably Tamper, it was lower levels. It was more difficult to affect transactions than even we On the more bearish side had expected to see. And when you deconstruct it, it's many factors All moving to the negative direction. It's volatility and difficulty in agreeing on price. It's Constrained financing in terms of the quantum of committed financing available is cost of financing, And which makes it harder for buyers and sellers to agree.

Speaker 2

It's a very strong antitrust Policy and enforcement from the administration, which whether they prevail or not has a chilling effect on a number of deals because Companies are not willing to subject themselves to that uncertainty. Is this continued drumbeat of whether or not we're Going to head into a recession. It's difficulty controlling costs. On every dimension, it has been more difficult to get transactions done. But what has been different in this cycle is company's desire To move forward with their strategic agendas remains essentially undeterred.

Speaker 2

And that's sort of The between where as difficult as it is to get transactions done, companies' desires to To manage their portfolio, to gain core competencies, to benefit from scale economies and the like, that has remained Unchallenged. And then if you add to that, the difficult fundraising environment in alternatives And a little bit of indigestion from all of the capital that was put out in 2021, Sponsors have been meaningfully less active in the marketplace. I think the number of portfolio companies that would Light to the IPO is building, so you have an awfully large backlog and it's unclear how many of those Companies will ultimately get liquidity events in the relative near term. And I think that also And the ecosystem has an effect on how aggressive private equity firms are in putting capital out. And if there is less confidence that there is a private equity bid for businesses, companies are perhaps more reluctant to initiate a sales process.

Speaker 2

So all of this feeds on itself. But as I said, inevitably markets adjust And I think we're in the adjustment phase on many of these factors. And I think we're a lot

Speaker 4

Thank you. And just as a follow-up, just on the hiring, you've obviously had tremendous success So far was that this year? Maybe you could just speak to whether you see the same opportunities for hiring today versus, let's say, the beginning of this year and what your

Speaker 2

I think we've talked consistently about There are 2 impediments to us attracting all of the talent in the The previous few years, one was the anomalies of COVID, just being in a remote environment, not being able to Create those personal connections. That was a unique period of time and that significantly And we're well past that thankfully. And the second is that in 2021, that headwind Was linked to extraordinary melt up in M and A activity and therefore the friction cost For senior practitioners to lead firms and take long periods of time on gardening leave, Those friction costs were extraordinarily high. And those 2 together had a chilling effect on our ability to recruit. And what we now have is probably the best environment we've seen in a long time because the fundamental attractiveness of our firm continues to build.

Speaker 2

I think the level of dissatisfaction at many of the big banks continues to remain. People Who have come to our firm have thrived and appreciate the unique culture and the way in which we can all come together to serve clients That's better understood by those who are considering joining our firm. We're able to create those personal connections because we're all back in the office And the friction costs in the current environment are as low as they've been arguably forever because of the low levels of M and A activity. So we don't have quotas. Every addition to the firm is individual by individual.

Speaker 2

It's all from the bottom up. It's not from the top down. But without those macro impediments, the attractiveness of our firm as a destination for talent is better And I certainly expect that momentum to continue in the Q4 into 2024. And at some point, we'll get back to a more normal cadence.

Speaker 4

Okay. That makes sense. Thanks a lot.

Speaker 2

Thank you.

Operator

Thank you. Our next question comes from Steven Chubak with Wolfe Research. Please go ahead.

Speaker 5

Good morning. This is Brandon O'Brien filling in for Stephen. I guess to start, results were a bit stronger than maybe your commentary last quarter suggested. And based on the prepared remarks, it seems like that might have largely been on the restructuring side of the business. So I just wanted to get a sense as to whether this was simply a function of timing, meaning that deals that you expected to close in 4Q closed a bit earlier or whether there's some meaningful And if there was more timing related, should we be expecting to see that seasonal Uplift in 4Q that you typically have?

Speaker 2

Well, I think we I think our full year commentary is Modestly more upbeat than it was a quarter ago. So that suggests that it's not timing per se, but just Additional strength in the firm, it's always hard to predict exactly how all of These mandates and all of these opportunities translate into revenues, but I would simply say that As we've been in the field competing for business and doing the business and just seeing the macro environment and the opportunities I think our outlook for this year is marginally improved relative to a quarter ago. I don't believe it's a step function improvement, but it is marginally improved. A lot of that is restructuring, but it's not exclusively restructuring.

Speaker 5

Got it. That's helpful color. And I guess for my follow-up, I know you touched on this a bit, but we have seen a number of large But at the same time, some of the commentary from the large public also just that activity at sponsors is likely to remain subdued in the near to intermediate term. Could you compare the dialogues that you're having with sponsors and strategics at the moment? And do you feel like the gap higher and long end rates as maybe or could serve as further decelerating, I guess, for sponsor activity.

Speaker 2

I'm sorry. Just repeat that last sentence. I didn't hear you.

Speaker 5

The gap higher in long end rates and the potential impact on sponsor activity.

Speaker 2

Look, I think, look, it is clearly it's a mixed bag. I can sit here and I could paint a picture and talk about green shoots And all the reasons to be optimistic, I could also talk about the reasons why that may not come to fruition. I think the reality is We're dealing with a very challenging environment to get transactions done. Let's just take antitrust. I think while there have been some well publicized victories, the fact remains that This administration is still committed to active enforcement.

Speaker 2

And as a result, it puts Businesses are at risk because of extended periods of time between signing and closing And in a volatile macroeconomic backdrop, putting companies and targets in the Crosshairs for a longer period of time when they're not integrated and they're not yet acquired and they're just sort of sitting out there, That adds risk and that makes it more difficult for companies to get comfortable. So the mere fact that there is Certainty, the mere fact that there is longer periods of time between signing and closing, the fact that there are more regulatory jurisdictions around the Hello. With many different agendas and opportunities for intervenors, we're to get caught up in our broader geopolitical That just weighs on transactions. That doesn't mean that it precludes all transactions. It just means that the margin, Some transactions that would otherwise be presented to the market as agreed deals never see the light of day.

Speaker 2

I think there's no doubt that private equity firms are looking to create more monetization events with portfolio companies. The IPO markets hopefully open up a bit. One of the challenges will be just sheer number of companies that would like to access the IPO market, that's why you're seeing greater interest and execution with fund continuation vehicles and the like as you look for ways to create more liquidity for companies. Committed financing continues to be challenging for very large transactions, but you're then seeing the growth in pools of private capital and direct lenders and more creative deal making. So we're adjusting to this environment, But what gives me the most confidence is the simple fact that no matter how difficult it is to get deals done, companies' desires to try and figure out a way to present deals and to move forward.

Speaker 2

And the fact that we have an ever growing backlog of strategic initiatives That have not yet been able to be acted upon, I think is an accelerant. And as soon as some of these conditions When some of these clouds start to lift, you could see a very strong movement activity to the upside. So we're controlling what we control, which is making sure we have the right team on the field, making sure we have the right culture to get our team aligned with clients, making sure we have the right priorities and trying to secure as many high quality mandates as possible. So even if we don't have As much as we'd like to present to our investors on a quarterly basis, we're at least positioning ourselves for the inevitable turn and when it does, That will be reflected in stronger results.

Speaker 5

Thanks for taking my questions.

Speaker 2

Thank you.

Operator

Thank you. Our next question will come from Brennan Hawken with UBS. Please go ahead. Ken Brennan, your line is live. Please unmute if you're muted.

Operator

Okay. Sorry about that. Thanks for taking my questions. I wanted to start, Paul, with your expectation for the Recruiting to continue to pressure margins, when you say that, is that incremental pressure versus what you have been Generating more recently or is that more saying that the pressure that you've seen recently will continue? Just trying to Understand the implication there.

Speaker 2

Well, I think I wouldn't be telling you anything you weren't already aware of And we're very pleased with the continued environment and elevated recruiting, our ability to get Okay.

Operator

Understand that. I was just trying to get a little texture on whether or not you're talking about incremental. I guess, I'm left to assume it would be a little incremental.

Speaker 2

So just to be clear, Lina, we need to get through this year and see where we land for the full year. But my hope would be That from there we would begin to get those margins higher over time and get them back to where they have Historically, that's the objective. So there's no confusion. Okay.

Operator

Thanks for that, Paul. And then clear strength in restructuring, Really good to see. It's really kind of interesting because we've heard other firms remark on growth sort of starting to level out. So it sounds like you're not seeing that. Curious, number 1, is that still sponsor owned, debtor side driven?

Operator

And given the fact that you're expecting the highest revenue in the firm's history. How does the restructuring revenue year to date compare to 2020? And what kind of order of magnitude do you think we could see as far as record revenue go? Any additional color there would be great. Thank you.

Speaker 2

Well, sure. Just to take the last thing. I mean, all I'm comfortable saying at this point, we still have A lot of the Q4 to come, and I really don't want to get overly precise on what our 4th quarter estimates are because it's very difficult to sort of predict a quarter. We're much more comfortable in thinking about years. And I think at this point in the year, I am comfortable saying that this will be Our highest revenue year ever in the prior peak was 2020.

Speaker 2

But beyond that, I don't have Any additional color to give on that? And I think that just reflects, if you tie it back to earlier comments We had made it's a slight or a modest improvement in our full year prognosis. I think a lot of that is restructuring. It's not exclusively restructuring. I think our restructuring business, I would characterize that the early wave was Probably more liability management and proactive managing of debt sacks, which is unrelated to bankruptcy filings.

Speaker 2

We're now starting to see as this difficult credit environment and business pressure continues to carry on that it affects more corporates and those companies are increasingly working to Proactively manage their debt stacks and some of them may have no choice but to make use of the courts to resolve Some of their overleveraged situations. So I think it's a mix of business. It's a mix of business between debtors and creditors. It's a Mix of business geographically, we continue to work to increase our presence outside the United States and Europe and in Asia. We continue to work in court, out of court, and I'm quite pleased with just the breadth and depth of our business.

Speaker 2

And the more that we can link that to our strategic advisory team and their relationships and their industry expertise Now where does it go quarter to quarter? I'm not able to predict that. But if you ask me, Is this going to at all resemble 2021 where we had this burst of activity and then it dried up? I think this feels very different than that, This is a balance sheet repair cycle where it's wave after wave that still need to be Dealt with and we don't see easy money coming back anytime soon.

Operator

Yes. That's very Clear and helpful texture. Just I don't know if it's possible to compare the restructuring strength order of magnitude to 2020, which I believe was your prior record. Are you exceeding that and to what degree?

Speaker 2

Well, I let us produce full year results and then we can compare year on year when we actually have 2022 2023 is done and dusted. We can perhaps look back and see what's better, what's different than our prior peak. But give us the benefit of getting through the year.

Speaker 4

Okay. Thanks for

Operator

taking my questions.

Speaker 2

Thank you. All right. Thank you. Go ahead, sir. I was just going to thank everyone for joining us today.

Speaker 2

And we appreciate your interest. We appreciate your support and we look forward to communicating our

Operator

And this does conclude today's call. You may now disconnect.

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