FTI Consulting's per-share profits in the first quarter rose 66 percent from a year earlier — when the Baltimore-based company took millions of dollars in charges related to layoffs — but the increase wasn't quite enough to meet analysts' earnings expectations.
The company's stock dropped $1.94 a share Wednesday to close at $38.54.
FTI, whose clients are businesses dealing with challenges ranging from mergers to fraud, reported earnings Wednesday of 48 cents per share in the three months ending March 31, up from 29 cents per share in the first quarter of last year. On average, analysts expected 49 cents per share in the first quarter of this year.
FTI said demand in its largest business segment, restructuring and bankruptcy services, "remained soft" because of improvements in the economy and credit markets. But other divisions grew.
jamie.smith.hopkins@baltsun.com
twitter.com/realestatewonk