Asia Pacific drives Hays growth

28th Feb 2011 07:03

International recruitment firm Hays shrugged off a workaday performance back in Blighty to post a sharp increase in interim profits.The group hailed an "excellent performance" in Asia Pacific, which delivered net fee growth of 38% as part of a group performance where net fees rose 23%, or 20% on a like for like (LFL) basis, to £326.1m in the six months to end-December from £264.8m the year before.The group said 62% of group net fees were generated from outside of the UK, with growth in Continental Europe and the Rest of the World up 33%, led by Germany, which grew net fees by 38%.In the UK, the going was tough in the public sector, where net fees slumped 36% but net fees from the private sector grew 27% to offset this."18 countries around the world grew net fees by more than 25%," noted Hays chief executive Alistair Cox.Profit before tax and exceptional items jumped 60% to £48.6m from £30.4m."Our IT [information technology] investment projects are now substantially complete and our focus has moved on to fully utilising these systems to drive productivity, efficiency and customer service," Cox added. The trend of faster growth in the permanent placement part of the market continued, with net fees from "permanents" rising 34% on a like for like basis to £147.4m, while LFL growth in net fees from "temps" was 11% at £178.7m. The proportion of the total represented by net fees from temps declined to 55% from 59%.Net debt increased from £77.2m at the end of June to £125.7m, primarily due to the payment of the dividend and the increase in net working capital.The interim dividend has been held at 1.85p.