10th Oct 2013 08:56
LONDON (Alliance News) - British recruitment company Hays PLC Thursday reported growth in net fees in the first quarter, as tight cost controls and a stronger performance from the UK and Ireland managed to offset steep declines in Australia.
The British recruitment company said that net fees increased 1% on a headline basis in the first quarter ended September 30, and 2% on a like-for-like basis against the prior year.
"We delivered meaningful growth in the UK, invested selectively to capitalise on opportunities and kept a tight control of costs in tougher markets to maximise our financial performance," said Chief Executive Officer Alistair Cox in a statement.
Hays said that net fees in its temporary staffing business, which accounted for 59% of total net fees in the quarter, rose by 2%. It said that net fees in its permanent staffing business increase by 1%.
Hays said it consultant headcount was up 2% in the quarter, and up 1% year-on-year, as it invested selectively in particular markets, and continued to focus on on tight cost control.
The recruitment consultancy said that it saw a solid performance across the regions, bar Asia Pacific, as net fees declined 12%, hampered by a weak Australian market, where net fees fell 18%.
Outside of Australia, it said that Asia saw further improvements, and net fees increase by 17%.
Hays said that it saw good net fee growth of 8% in the UK and Ireland, and growth of 6% in its largest division in Continental Europe and the rest of the world, buoyed by strong growth in Germany.
The group's net debt at the end of September was GBP97 million, down from GBP105.2 million at the end of June.
Hays shares were up 1.8% Thursday morning, trading at 117.70 pence per share
By Rowena Harris-Doughty; [email protected]; @rharrisdoughty
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