Michael C. Buckley
Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer at Robert Half
Thank you. Thank you, Keith. Hello, everyone. As Keith noted, global revenues were $1.382 billion in the 4th-quarter. On an as-adjusted basis, 4th-quarter talent solutions revenues were down 12% year-over-year. US Talent Solutions revenues were $686 million, down 11% from the prior year's 4th-quarter. Non-US talent solutions revenues were $208 million, down 14% year-over-year. We conduct talent solutions operations through offices in the United States and 17 other countries. In the 4th-quarter, there were 61.6 billing days compared to 61.1 billing days in the same quarter one year-ago.
The first-quarter of 2025 had 61.9 billing days compared to 62.8 billing days during the first-quarter of 2024. The billing days for the remaining 3/4 of 2025 will be 63.2, 64.2 and 61.4 for a total of 250.7 billing days for the year. Constant-currency exchange rate movements during the -- during the 4th-quarter had the effect of decreasing reported year-over-year total revenues by $4 million and that's $4 million for Talent solutions and a negligible amount for Protiviti. Sequential-quarter currency fluctuations reduced revenues by $7 million, $5 million for Talent solutions and $2 million for Protiviti. Contract talent solutions bill rates for the 4th-quarter increased 3.4% compared to one year-ago, adjusted for changes in the mix of revenues by functional specialization, currency and country. This rate for the 3rd-quarter was 3.2%. Thank you. Now let's take a closer look at results for Protiviti. Global revenues in the 4th-quarter were $488 million, $396 million of that is from the United States and $92 million is from outside of the United States. On an as-adjusted basis, global 4th-quarter Protiviti revenues were up 5% versus the year-ago period. US Protiviti revenues were up 6%, while non-US Protiviti revenues were flat compared to one year-ago. Protiviti and its independently-owned member firms serve clients through locations in the United States in 29 other countries.
Turning now to gross margin. In Contract Talent Solutions, 4th-quarter gross margin was 39.1% of applicable revenues versus 39.7% in the 4th-quarter one year-ago. Conversion revenues or contract to hire were 3.2% of revenues in the quarter compared to 3.4% of revenues in the quarter one year-ago., our permanent placement revenues were 12.1% of consolidated talent solutions revenues in both the current quarter and the 4th-quarter of 2023. When combined with contract talent Solutions gross margins, overall gross margin for Talent solutions was 46.4% compared to 46.9% of applicable revenues in the 4th-quarter one year-ago. For Protiviti, gross margin was 24.9% of Protiviti revenues compared to 23.9% of Protiviti revenues one year-ago. Adjusted for the amount of deferred compensation that is completely offset by investment income related to employee deferred compensation trusts for the deferred compensation investment income offset, our gross margin for Protiviti was 25.1% for the quarter just ended compared to 25.9% last year. We ended 2024 with 11,000 full-time Protiviti employees and contractors, up 4.8% from the prior year.
Moving on to SG&A. Enterprise SG&A costs were 34.1% of global revenues in the 4th-quarter compared to 35.1% in the same quarter one year-ago. Adjusted for the deferred compensation investment income offset, enterprise SG&A costs were 33.8% for the quarter just ended compared to 32.5% one year-ago. In Talent solutions, SG&A costs were 44.4% of talent solutions revenues in the 4th-quarter versus 44.6% in the 4th-quarter of 2023. Adjusted for the deferred compensation investment income offset, talent solutions SG&A costs were 43.9% for the quarter just ended compared to 40.8% last year.
We ended 2024 with 7,600 full-time internal employees in our Talent Solutions divisions, down 5.2% from the prior year. 4th-quarter SG&A costs for Protiviti were 15.2% of Protiviti revenues as compared to 14.5% of revenues for the same quarter one year-ago. Operating income for the quarter was $65 million adjusted for the deferred compensation investment income offset, combined segment income was $71 million in the 4th-quarter. Our combined segment margin was 5.1%. 4th-quarter segment income from our Talent Solutions divisions was $23 million with a segment margin of 2.5%. Segment income for Protiviti in the 4th-quarter was $48 million with a segment margin of 9.9%.
Our 4th-quarter 2024 income statement includes $6 million as income from investments held in employee deferred Compensation trusts. This is completely offset by an equal amount of additional employee deferred compensation costs, which are reflected in SG&A expenses and direct costs. As such, it has no effect on our reported net income. Our 4th-quarter tax-rate was 28% and this compares to 27% one year-ago. At the end-of-the 4th-quarter, accounts receivable were $772 million and implied day sales outstanding or DSO was 50.5 days. Before we move to first-quarter guidance, let's review some of the monthly revenue trends we saw in the 4th-quarter and so-far in January, all adjusted for currency and billing days. Contract talent solutions exited the 4th-quarter with December revenues down 11% versus the prior year compared to a 12% decrease for the full-quarter.
Revenues for the first three weeks of January were down 14% compared to the same-period last year. Permanent placement revenues in December were down 6% versus December 2023. This compares to an 11% decrease for the full-quarter. For the first four weeks in January, permanent placement revenues were down 3% compared to the same-period in 2024. We provide this information so that you have insight into some of the trends we saw during the 4th-quarter and into January. But as you know, these are very brief time periods and we caution reading too much into them.
With that in mind, we offer the following first-quarter guidance. Revenues $1.35 billion to $1.45 billion and income per share of $0.31 to $0.41. Midpoint revenues of $1.4 billion are 3% lower than the same-period in 2024 on an as-adjusted basis. The major financial assumptions underlying the midpoint of these estimates are as follows: revenue growth year-over-year on an as-adjusted basis. Talent solutions down 7% to 10% with productivity up 8% to 10%, overall down 1% to down 4%. Contract margin percentages for contract talent, 38% to 40% and Protiviti as-adjusted for the deferred compensation investment income offset 20% to 22% and overall 36% To 39%. First, SG&A as a percentage of revenues adjusted for the deferred compensation investment income offsets, Talent solutions 43% to 45%; Protiviti 15% to 16%, overall 33% to 35%. Segment income for Talent Solutions, 1% to 4%, Protiviti 4% to 7%, percent overall 2% to 5%. Our tax-rate, a range of 31% to 35%, shares 101 million to 102 million. 2025 capital expenditures and capitalized cloud computing costs of $75 million to $95 million, which was $20 million to $25 million in the first-quarter. Protiviti's first-quarter segment income guidance includes -- includes the seasonal impact of annual staff promotions and compensation increase, all of which become fully effective on January 1. This produces a sequential decline in midpoint estimated segment margin of 4.4 percentage points, which is consistent with the 4 to 7 point decline experienced in most of the last 10 years. On a year-over-year basis, at the midpoint, Protiviti's first-quarter revenues and earnings are expected to grow by 9% and 20%, respectively. All estimates we provide on this call are subject to the risks mentioned in today's press release and in our SEC filings. Now, I'll turn the call-back over to Keith.