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Hays PLC on Tuesday reported a decline in net fees due to challenging market conditions, as it warned that it was too early to determine whether there will be a rebound in the short-term.
The London-based recruitment company said in the third financial quarter ended March 31, net fees income declined by 17% year-on-year, with a contraction in all regions. Australia & New Zealand had the largest decline of 29%, followed by Germany, the UK & Ireland with 16%. In the rest of the world, fee income fell by 14%.
Chief Executive Officer Dirk Hahn, noting that market conditions remained ‘challenging’, said that the company had a ‘strong and clear strategy’ aimed at building a more resilient business via increased operational rigour and strong cost management.
Looking ahead, Hays said: ‘We expect overall near-term market conditions to remain challenging, but broadly stable. The impact of temp & contracting hours worked in Germany will be an important sensitivity to fee and profit performance going forward, and it is too early to determine whether there will be a meaningful rebound in Q4.’
CEO Hahn said: ‘We are firmly focused on targeting the many structural growth opportunities we see and, over time, rebuilding our conversion rate. Driven by our strong teams of talented colleagues worldwide, I am excited by what we can achieve once our end markets recover.’
Hays shares fell 4.3% to 88.55 pence each on Tuesday morning in London.
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