BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 22, 2012-- Charles River Associates (NASDAQ: CRAI), a worldwide leader in providing economic, financial, and management consulting services, today announced that its Board of Directors has authorized an expanded share repurchase program of up to $4.45 million of its common stock, in addition to its currently existing share repurchase program. In August 2011, the Company announced that its Board of Directors authorized a share repurchase program of up to $7.5 million of its common stock. As of February 22, 2012, the Company has repurchased 219,881 shares at a cost of approximately $4.6 million under the existing plan.

CRA will finance the existing and expanded repurchase programs with available cash. The Company may repurchase shares in open market purchases or in privately negotiated transactions in accordance with applicable insider trading and other securities laws and regulations. The timing and extent to which the Company repurchases its shares will depend upon market conditions and other corporate considerations as may be considered in the Company’s sole discretion.

“CRA has the financial resources available to fund the existing and expanded share repurchase program while continuing to execute our corporate strategy,” said Paul Maleh, CRA’s President and CEO.

About Charles River Associates (CRA)

Charles River Associates^® is a global consulting firm specializing in litigation, regulatory, and financial consulting, and management consulting. CRA advises clients on economic and financial matters pertaining to litigation and regulatory proceedings, and guides corporations through critical business strategy and performance-related issues. Since 1965, clients have engaged CRA for its unique combination of functional expertise and industry knowledge, and for its objective solutions to complex problems. Headquartered in Boston, CRA has offices throughout North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. Detailed information about Charles River Associates, a registered trade name of CRA International, Inc., is available at http://www.crai.com.

Statements in this press release concerning the Company’s intent to purchase shares of common stock, its belief that it has the financial resources to fund the stock repurchase program, and statements using the terms “anticipates,” “believes,” “expects,” “should,” or similar expressions, are “forward-looking” statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based upon management's current expectations and are subject to a number of factors and uncertainties. Information contained in these forward-looking statements is inherently uncertain and actual performance and results may differ materially due to many important factors. Such factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from any forward-looking statements made by the Company include, among others, the Company's restructuring costs and attributable annual cost savings, changes in the Company's effective tax rate, share dilution from the Company's stock-based compensation, dependence on key personnel, attracting and retaining qualified consultants, dependence on outside experts, utilization rates, factors related to its completed acquisitions, including integration of personnel, clients, offices, and unanticipated expenses and liabilities, the risk of impairment write downs to the Company's intangible assets, including goodwill, if the Company’s enterprise value declines below certain levels, risks associated with acquisitions it may make in the future, risks inherent in international operations, the performance of NeuCo, changes in accounting standards, rules and regulations, changes in the law that affect its practice areas, management of new offices, the potential loss of clients, the ability of customers to terminate the Company's engagements on short notice, dependence on the growth of the Company's business consulting practice, the unpredictable nature of litigation-related projects, the ability of the Company to integrate successfully new consultants into its practice, general economic conditions, intense competition, risks inherent in litigation, and professional liability. Further information on these and other potential factors that could affect the Company's financial results is included in the Company's periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company cannot guarantee any future results, levels of activity, performance or achievement. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any of its forward-looking statements after the date of this press release.

Source: Charles River Associates

Charles River Associates
Wayne D. Mackie, 617-425-3740
Executive Vice President, CFO
or
Sharon Merrill Associates, Inc.
Jim Buckley, 617-542-5300
Executive Vice President