Hays share price drops as weak euro and Australian dollar hit profit
A positive boost from the UK’s strong jobs market was not enough to offset the negative impact of a weak euro for recruiter Hays, it said this morning, pushing its share price down 6.7 per cent.
The FTSE 250 professional recruiter reported profit growth of three per cent in the three months ending 30 September, compared with the same period last year.
The number of workers placed in Europe and the rest of the world was up 11 per cent, but due to the euro falling against the pound over the last year, it only translated to eight per cent year-on-year growth.
A weak Australian dollar also dented the results, with its profit in Asia Pacific contracting by seven per cent, despite a six per cent rise in like-for-like fees.
“Foreign exchange movements in the group's key operating currencies, particularly the euro and the Australian dollar, continued to have a material negative impact on the group's reported results in the quarter and looking forward, exchange rate movements remain a material sensitivity,” the company said.
UK profit was up six per cent, with profit from major specialisms in construction and property, education and IT all growing 10 per cent. However, it was softer than the nine per cent growth in the three months to June.
Analysts at Jefferies trimmed the earnings per share forecast for the year ending 30 June 2016 by two per cent.