Hays to reward investors with £150m special dividend amid bumper growth
Recruitment firm Hays has reported strong growth in the first quarter with fees up 41 per cent and permanent roles rising sharply.
The international recruiter, which employs over 10,000 people across 256 offices in 33 countries, saw record fees in 12 countries with the UK and Ireland delivering fee growth of 44 per cent for the three months ending in September 2021.
On the back of bumper results the board confirmed that investors would receive a core and £150m special dividend payout of 1.22p per share and 8.93p per share each in November 2021.
Commenting on the Group’s performance, Alistair Cox, Chief Executive, said it had made a “strong start” to the financial year and praised “fee growth in all major markets.”
“In Continental Europe, activity levels remained high, with less of a seasonal summer slowdown than
normal, and our largest market of Germany ended the period with a record number of contractors. The UK&I and
Asia continued to perform strongly, while the Americas delivered our highest overall fee growth,” Cox continued.
In the company’s largest market, the Americas, net fees jumped by 66 per cent. In the USA, the Hays’ largest markets, fees grew 63 per cent while in Canada they rose 60 per cent and in Latin America grew by 91 per cent.
The company ended the quarter with net cash of £360m – down £50m over Q1 but up by £10m compared to the same period last year and in line with the company’s expectations.
Today, share price is up 2.96 per cent at the time of writing and stands at 167.10 GBX with prices up 16.61 per cent this year to date.
Read more: Hays operating profit to beat expectations after strong March hiring