Recruiter Hays expects strong full year profit, highlights forex challenges

9th Jul 2015 08:36

Recruitment firm Hays reported a strong second quarter as group net fee growth improved by 9% and said currency movements remained a challenge for the company.The job placement firm reiterated guidance it would deliver strong group profit for the full year, and said second half operating profits would be slightly ahead of the first half.Hays said foreign exchange movements in key currencies such as the euro and the Australian dollar had a material negative impact on the reported results for the quarter.However, it still expected the firm's second half operating profit to be slightly ahead of the first half level of £81m, resulting in strong operating profit growth for the year ended 30 June 2015.Hays chief executive Alistair Cox said in the UK a clear election outcome removed uncertainty from the market and its business performed well."Despite the recent political issues in the Eurozone, our European businesses continued to deliver broad-based growth, with several delivering net fee growth of 10% or more, including Belgium, Poland, Russia, Spain and Switzerland," he said in a statement.Cox said looking ahead to the 2016 financial year, exchange movements would remain a material sensitivity to reported profitability.Hays managed to reduce its net debt to about £30m from £80m in June and said it expected to move into a positive cash position next year.Shares in Hays were up 2.1% to 160.10p on Thursday at 0856 BST.