Press releases
Interim Management Statement for the quarter ended 30 September 2007
11 Oct 2007
Comment
Commenting on trading for the quarter ended 30 September 2007, Denis Waxman, Chief Executive of Hays plc, said:
"I am pleased to report that in our first quarter we have made a strong start to the year built on the momentum generated in the second half of last year. We have achieved strong growth in net fees and continued with our investment plans, particularly in the International business. Although we are mindful of the increased economic uncertainty, we continue to see strong demand across our markets and fully expect to continue our good progress this year."
Group
| Growth in net fees in the quarter ended 30 September 2007 | Growth | |
|---|---|---|
| (versus the same period last year) | actual | LFL* |
| By region | ||
| United Kingdom & Ireland | 14% | 12% |
| Asia Pacific | 50% | 40% |
| Continental Europe & Rest of World | 40% | 41% |
| Total | 24% | 21% |
| By segment | ||
| Temporary | 16% | 14% |
| Permanent | 34% | 30% |
| Total | 24% | 21% |
* LFL is like-for-like growth, which represents organic growth of continuing activities at constant currency
Hays plc, the Specialist Recruitment Group, has made a strong start to the financial year. In the quarter ended 30 September 2007, Group net fees grew by 21% on a like-for-like basis versus the same period last year. During the quarter, the Group increased the number of consultants by 9% as planned, and added nine offices to the network, all of which were in the International businesses.
The contrasting conditions between the market for permanent staff and the market for temporary staff has continued. As a result, our net fees increased by 30% in the permanent placement market and by 14% in the temporary placement market on a like-for-like basis versus the same period last year.
United Kingdom & Ireland
In the United Kingdom & Ireland, we had strong net fee growth of 12% on a like-for-like basis versus last year. The Accountancy & Finance business continued to make good progress building on its improvement in the second half of last year. Construction & Property benefited from strong demand and the Information Technology business made steady progress following the investment in the second half of last year. We continue to invest heavily in the newer specialisms and they are performing strongly.
Asia Pacific
In Asia Pacific, our businesses continued their excellent momentum from last year, achieving growth in net fees of 40% on a like-for-like basis versus last year. In Australia & New Zealand, where we are market leader, the business recorded exceptional performances across all its specialist activities. We continued to roll out our newer specialisms across the network and we opened another office in Brisbane. In Asia, our newly established businesses in Japan, China, Hong Kong and Singapore all performed well and we opened a second office in Japan (Osaka).
Continental Europe & Rest of World (‘RoW’)
In Continental Europe & RoW, net fees increased by 41% on a like-for-like basis versus the same period last year. This outstanding growth stems from our significant investment in the region and the considerable structural growth in the market. All countries in this region contributed to this performance, with Germany, France, Belgium, Spain and Canada performing particularly strongly.
During the quarter, we started operations in Hungary (Budapest) and opened further offices in Germany (Stuttgart), Spain (Barcelona and Seville), Canada (Edmonton), Switzerland (Basel) and the Czech Republic (Ostrava). Following the acquisition last year of James Harvard, we continue to rapidly roll out our Pharmaceutical specialism across Europe, introducing it into Switzerland and Portugal during the quarter.
Share buy-back
We have continued with the share buy-back programme. During the quarter, we purchased 21.1 million shares at a cost of £32.6 million. As previously stated, the company expects to buy-back a minimum of £75 million of shares during this financial year.
Cash flow and balance sheet
The cash flow performance in the quarter has been in line with expectations and the balance sheet remains strong with net debt modestly increasing during the quarter reflecting seasonal cash flow trends and the ongoing share buy-back programme.
Outlook
Our markets continue to be strong, particularly in Continental Europe and Asia Pacific, and the business is well positioned to take advantage of these conditions. Whilst the Board is mindful of the increased economic uncertainty, our outlook is unchanged from when we last reported on 4 September when we stated that the Board is confident in its outlook for the year.
- ends -
Enquiries:
| Hays plc | ||
| Paul Venables | Finance Director | + 44 (0) 20 7628 9999 |
| Martin Abell | Investor Relations | + 44 (0) 20 7628 9999 |
| Brunswick | ||
| Gill Ackers / Alexa von Wietzlow | + 44 (0) 20 7404 5959 | |
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