TTEC Holdings reports Q4 adjusted EPS 37c, consensus 39c

Reports Q4 revenue $626.2M, consensus $603.48M. “As we have previously communicated, 2023 was a dynamic year for TTEC. The macroeconomic factors created a conservative and uncertain business environment that delayed client contracting decisions and lowered forecasts for certain clients in the second half of the year. While these factors moderated our results, we continued to make progress diversifying our business by growing our client base, completing a strategic phase of our geographic expansion, and expanding our AI-enabled solutions,” commented Ken Tuchman, chairman and chief executive officer of TTEC. “Our 2024 outlook reflects three very specific challenges in our TTEC Engage segment. First, client budget constraints and a conservative mindset in the second half of 2023 is carrying forward into our 2024 outlook. Second, a long-tenured client eliminated one of several lines of business that we supported. While our relationship remains strong with this client and we continue to service their customers across multiple other lines of business, the discontinuation of this one line of business contributes to the impact on our top and bottom line in 2024. Third, while we are pleased by the growing demand for our new offshore locations, the timing lag between our recent wins and normalized revenue run rate and margins is weighing on our outlook,” Tuchman continued. “In TTEC Digital, we delivered record bookings in the fourth quarter and the team is off to a strong start this year. Demand for our differentiated CX technology expertise continues to grow as cloud migrations and AI solutions drive our clients’ CX digital transformation agendas.” Tuchman further stated, “As we move into 2024, we are laser focused on execution. We will continue to capitalize on our greatly expanded offshore footprint, deepen our relationships with new and existing clients, apply our AI-enabled solutions and accelerate our margin optimization initiatives.” “TTEC’s board of directors’ decision to reduce the dividend reflects a prudent shift to prioritize our capital deployment towards continued investments in sustainable growth initiatives and debt reduction associated with strategic acquisitions. As revised, the dividend is in line with our stock price and the dividend yield typical for our industry and the broader market. I am confident we are well positioned to emerge stronger as we exit 2024.”