UPDATE 1-Heidrick & Struggles Q4 profit trails Street

* Q4 EPS $0.30 vs est. $0.31

* Rev $134.9 mln vs est. $124.9 mln

* Sees 2009 rev $450-$500 mln

Feb 24 (Reuters) - Executive recruiter Heidrick & Struggles International Inc (HSII.O) posted a quarterly profit that narrowly trailed market expectations, hurt by a fall in the number of confirmed executive searches.

The company, which is one of the two publicly traded executive search firms in the United States, said the number of executive searches confirmed in the fourth quarter fell 16.9 percent.

"Our fourth quarter results reflect further deterioration in economies around the world, which resulted in slower hiring decisions in every region and in almost every industry practice," Chief Executive Kevin Kelly said in a statement.

The company posted fourth-quarter net income of $5.3 million, compared with $9.2 million a year earlier.

Shares of the company closed at $15.48 Monday on Nasdaq.

For related alerts, double-click on [ID:nWNAB6029] (Reporting by Amulya Nagaraj in Bangalore; Editing by Pratish Narayanan)