NEW YORK (Business Wire) -- CTPartners Executive Search Inc. (AMEX: CTP), a leading global retained executive search firm, today announced results for the quarter ended March 31, 2012.

“We are very pleased with our operating performance in Q1 2012 during this challenging global economic time. Our Partners around the world continue to operate as the quality leaders in the search business, and our Latin American acquisition was both accretive and added significantly to our geographic and practice diversification growth strategy,” said Brian Sullivan, CEO.

Q1 2012 Highlights

• Revenue of $32.4 million and EPS of $.05 outperformed the upper end of our guidance of $31 million and $.02
• Our Latin American acquisition added $3.0 million in revenue, 71 searches and $.6 million in operating contribution
• Consultant headcount increased by 16 to 113
• Our Consumer/Retail practice increased by 217% to $5.8 million, and Industrial grew by 27% to $2.8 million
• While our revenue grew 6% year over year, financial services became 30% of our revenue, down from 35%

Q1 2012 Results

For the three months ended March 31, 2012, net revenue increased $1.9 million, or 6.3%, to $32.4 million, compared to $30.5 million in the prior year.

Revenue Breakdown by Region:

YEAR OVER YEAR			Q1 2012								Q1 2011
By Region			Revenue				%				Revenue				%				Increase / (Decrease)					%
North America			$	20,123,089			62.1	%			$	18,642,247			61.2	%			$	1,480,842				7.9	%
EMEA				6,721,946			20.8	%				8,462,925			27.7	%				(1,740,979	)			-20.6	%
Asia Pacific				2,603,859			8.0	%				3,376,020			11.1	%				(772,161	)			-22.9	%
Latin America				2,953,851			9.1	%				-			0.0	%				2,953,851				100.0	%
TOTAL			$	32,402,745			100	%			$	30,481,192			100	%			$	1,921,553				6.3	%

An 8% increase in North America, and $3 million in new revenue from Latin America was partially offset by weakness in EMEA and Asia Pacific.

On a sequential basis, we increased revenue by 19.2%, due to Latin America, and increases in North America of 13.2%, and Asia Pacific of 17%, partially offset by a decrease in EMEA of 6.4%.

Revenue by Practice

YEAR OVER YEAR			Q1 2012								Q1 2011
By Practice			Revenue				%				Revenue				%				Increase / (Decrease)					%
Financial Services			$	9,769,811			30.1	%			$	10,637,936			34.9	%			$	(868,125	)			-8.2	%
TMT				3,655,740			11.3	%				6,218,163			20.4	%				(2,562,423	)			-41.2	%
Life Sciences				5,253,397			16.2	%				4,694,104			15.4	%				559,293				11.9	%
Professional Services				5,073,731			15.7	%				4,876,991			16.0	%				196,740				4.0	%
Consumer/Retail				5,839,920			18.0	%				1,839,739			6.0	%				4,000,181				217.4	%
Industrial				2,810,146			8.7	%				2,214,259			7.3	%				595,887				26.9	%
TOTAL			$	32,402,745			100	%			$	30,481,192			100	%			$	1,921,553				6.3	%

We are very pleased that our diversification effort has shown great results with year over year growth in Consumer/Retail, Industrial, Life Sciences, and Professional Services offset by a decline in TMT and slight decline in Financial Services.

On a sequential basis, Financial Services showed a 36% increase. Both Consumer/Retail and Industrial showed gains. The weakness in the portfolio was primarily in TMT, mostly Asia.

Performance metrics:

			Three Month Period Ended March 31,								Increase/					% Increase/
			2012				2011				(Decrease)					(Decrease)
Number of new search assignments				385				300				85				28.3	%
Number of executive search consultants (as of period end)				113				97				16				16.5	%
Productivity, as measured by average annualized net revenue per executive search consultant			$	1,147,000			$	1,257,000			$	(110,000	)			(8.8	)%
Average revenue per executive search			$	89,141			$	97,970			$	(8,829	)			(9.0	)%

There were 385 confirmed searches in the first quarter of 2012, a 28.3% increase year over year. Sequentially, searches increased 58%. Both increases reflect the addition of our Latin American acquisition. Productivity, defined as average annualized net revenue per executive search consultant, was $1,147,000 in the first quarter 2012 compared to $1,257,000 in the first quarter of 2011. The average revenue per executive search was $89,141 in the first quarter of 2012 compared to $97,970 in the corresponding period in 2011, down 9%, primarily due to the inclusion of the average fee for Latin America. Excluding Latin America, the average revenue per executive search would have improved to $101,305.

Compensation and Benefits

Compensation and employee benefits expense increased $1.6 million, or 6.8%, to $25.0 million for the quarter ending March 31, 2012 from $23.4 million in Q1 2011. As a percentage of net revenue, compensation and benefits increased slightly to 77.0% compared to 76.6% in Q1 2011.

There was a $1.7 million increase from Latin America due to two things, a $1.1 million increase in consultant compensation due to the revenues generated by our 16 new Latin America search consultants, and a $600,000 increase in non-consultant expense due to the addition of 65 support staff in Latin America. This increase was offset by a $100,000 decrease from all other locations.

A $325,000 increase in payroll taxes was partially due to a $4.5 million increase in accelerated consultant bonus payments during the three-month period ended March 31, 2012, which were made to minimize 2011 income taxes. The $354,000 increase in benefits expense was due to increases in both the rates incurred by the company to provide medical benefits to our employees and to an increase in the number of employees.

General and Administrative Expenses

General and administrative expenses increased to $6.8 million or 21.0% of net revenue for the quarter, from $6.1 million, or 19.9% of net revenue for Q1 of 2011. The increase was primarily the result of $600,000 of operating expenses in our Latin America offices, and a $130,000 increase in occupancy costs due to lease renewals in Hong Kong and Singapore and relocating Shanghai to permanent office space.

Operating Income

Our operating income was $659,833 with an operating margin of 2%. We reported income tax expense of $273,000, or 44% due to our profit mix in Latin America.

Earnings per fully diluted shares were $.05 for Q1 2012, versus $.08 in Q1 2011, and on a sequential basis moved from a loss position to a profit.

Our comparative operating results are below:

			For the Three Months Ended
			March 31,
			2012					2011
Net revenue			$	32,402,745				$	30,481,192
Reimbursable expenses				1,022,399					1,114,706
Total revenue				33,425,144					31,595,898
Operating expenses
Compensation and benefits				24,949,778					23,358,751
General and administrative				6,788,797					6,056,108
Reimbursable expenses				1,026,736					1,227,963
				32,765,311					30,642,822
Operating income				659,833					953,076
Interest expense				(39,302	)				(10,385	)
Income before income taxes				620,531					942,691
Income tax expense				(272,599	)				(337,186	)
Net income			$	347,932				$	605,505
Basic income per common share			$	0.05				$	0.08
Diluted income per common share			$	0.05				$	0.08
Basic weighted average common shares				7,135,485					7,178,754
Basic diluted common shares				7,469,563					7,568,577

Cash

Our ending cash balance was $7.2 million, compared to $20.8 million in Q1 2011, primarily due to a $5.2 million payment for our Latin American acquisition, and due to the decreased accrued compensation of $8.2 million, most of which was pre-paid to minimize 2011 taxes.

Our statements of cash flows are as follows:

			For the Three Months
			Ended March 31,
			2012					2011
Cash Flows From Operating Activities
Net income			$	347,932				$	605,505
Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash used in operating activities
Depreciation and amortization				404,041					293,832
Share-based compensation				321,574					495,718
Amortization of discount on seller note				42,629					-
Deferred income taxes				286,865					(403,557	)
Changes in operating assets and liabilities, net of effects of acquired business
Accounts receivable, net				(5,179,037	)				(1,274,832	)
Prepaid expenses				(190,877	)				58,266
Income taxes receivable				10,760					(1,070,809	)
Other assets and receivables				(50,767	)				(954,207	)
Accounts payables				378,274					(778,703	)
Accrued compensation				(6,254,189	)				1,900,450
Accrued business taxes				273,875					(155,676	)
Accrued expenses				523,033					(693,452	)
Deferred rent				(25,314	)				7,542
Net cash used in operating activities				(9,111,201	)				(1,969,923	)
Cash Flows From Investing Activities
Acquisition of a business				(5,250,000	)				-
Purchase of leasehold improvements and equipment				(59,589	)				(1,184,296	)
Net cash used in investing activities				(5,309,589	)				(1,184,296	)
Cash Flows From Financing Activities
Payments on long-term debt				(38,423	)				(68,220	)
Repurchase of common stock				(78,599	)				-
Net cash used in financing activities				(117,022	)				(68,220	)
Net decrease in cash				(14,537,812	)				(3,222,439	)
Effect of foreign currency on cash				(109,364	)				35,346
Cash:
Beginning				21,830,120					24,030,543
Ending			$	7,182,944				$	20,843,450

Q2 Guidance

While March was a robust search initiation month , enabling us to outperform our guidance, April was moderate. This exemplifies the lack of conviction by global leaders on the growth plan of their companies.

Therefore, for Q2 2012, we are guiding to revenue of $31 million to $33 million and EPS of $.01 to $.06. Because of continuing improvement performance of recent consultants, additions to our consultant staff, the expected continued growth in Latin America, some planned geographic growth, offset by selective consultant and staff reductions, we maintain our full year guidance of $125 million - $140 million in revenue and a 4-6% operating margin.

Conference Call and Webcast

The company will host a conference call tomorrow (Friday, May 11, 2012) at 9:00 AM (Eastern) / 6:00 AM (Pacific) to discuss these financial results. A live dial-in is available domestically at 866-770-7129 and internationally at 617-213-8067, passcode 88652729. A replay will be available until midnight (Eastern) on May 18, 2012, domestically at 888-286-8010 and internationally at 617-801-6888, passcode 34414202. A web broadcast of the event will be available live and for replay purposes on the CTPartners Investor Relations website at http://investor.ctnet.com.

CTPartners' 10-Q report is available online at http://investor.ctnet.com and www.sec.gov.

About CTPartners

CTPartners is a leading performance-driven executive search firm serving clients across the globe. Committed to a philosophy of partnering with its clients, CTPartners offers a proven track record in C-Suite, top executive, and board searches, as well as expertise serving private equity and venture capital firms.

With origins dating back to 1980, CTPartners serves clients with a global organization of more than 400 professionals and employees, offering expertise in board advisory services and executive recruiting services in the financial services, life sciences, industrial, professional services, retail and consumer, and technology, media and telecom industries.

CTPartners' focus is straightforward: Place the right executive in the chair. Evidence of CTPartners' ability to get the job done is its 81% placement success rate and average days to placement of 140 days in 2011. CTPartners has a stick rate of 88% for the eighteen month period ending on June 30, 2011.

Methodologies used include our proprietary technology, ClientNet®, a technology tool that permits clients to access password-protected information over the internet from any place, at any time, to check the status of their search engagements, and the 40-day Audit process, a comprehensive assessment tool that provides formal feedback and insures search milestones are met according to plan.

Headquartered in New York, CTPartners has offices in Bogotá, Boston, Caracas, Chicago, Cleveland, Columbia MD, Dallas, Dubai, Geneva, Hong Kong, Lima, London, Mexico City, Moscow , Panama City, Paris, Santiago, São Paulo, Shanghai, Silicon Valley, Singapore, Toronto, and Washington, D.C.

Safe Harbor Statement

The following is a Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995:

This press release includes forward-looking statements. As a general matter, forward-looking statements reflect our current expectations and projections relating to our financial condition, results of operations, plans, objectives, future performance and business. These statements may be identified by the use of forward looking terminology such as "outlook," "believes," "expects," "potential," "continues," "may," "will," "should," "seeks," "approximately," "predicts," "intends," "plans," "estimates," "anticipates," or the negative version of those words or other comparable words, but the absence of these words does not necessarily mean that a statement is not forward-looking. The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a safe harbor for the disclosure of forward-looking statements.

The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are based upon our historical performance, current plans, estimates, expectations and other factors we believe are appropriate under the circumstances. The inclusion of this forward-looking information should not be regarded as a representation by us that the future plans, estimates or expectations contemplated by us will be achieved since these forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties and assumptions relating to our operations, financial results, financial condition, business prospects, growth strategy and liquidity. If one or more of these or other risks or uncertainties materialize, or if our underlying assumptions prove to be incorrect, our actual results may vary materially from those indicated in these statements. Some of the key uncertainties and factors that could affect our future performance and cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by forward-looking statements are: our expectations regarding our revenues, expenses and operations and our ability to sustain profitability; our ability to recruit and retain qualified executive search consultants to staff our operations appropriately; our ability to expand our customer base and relationships, especially given the off-limit arrangements we are required to enter into with certain of our clients; further declines in the global economy and our ability to execute successfully through business cycles; our anticipated cash needs; our anticipated growth strategies and sources of new revenues; unanticipated trends and challenges in our business and the markets in which we operate; social or political instability in markets where we operate; the impact of foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations; price competition; the ability to forecast, on a quarterly basis, variable compensation accruals that ultimately are determined based on the achievement of annual results; and the mix of profit and loss by country in which we operate.

The above list should not be construed as exhaustive and should be read in conjunction with the other cautionary statements that are included in our annual report on Form 10-K filed on March 22, 2012. The forward looking statements included in this press release are made only as of the date hereof. We do not undertake any obligation to update or review any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise. You should, however, review the factors and risks we describe in the reports we will file from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

CTPartners Executive Search Inc.
Jennifer Silver, Vice President, Marketing & Investor Relations, 877-439-9229
Email: jsilver@ctnet.com