- Hays
- 20 February 2025 08:03:24
Source: Sharecast
Hays said this drove lower placement volumes and a material lengthening of its 'time-to-hire'.
In the six months to the end of December 2024, operating profit fell 56% to £25.5m, while pre-tax profit was 66% lower at £9.1m. Net fees declined 13% to £496m and the interim dividend was left unchanged at 0.95p per share.
Net fees in Temp & Contracting were down 9% and more resilient than the Permanent segment, which saw a 19% drop, Hays said.
Chief executive Dirk Hahn said: "Our focused strategy has five levers designed to build a structurally more profitable, resilient and growing business and, despite ongoing macroeconomic uncertainty, we have remained relentlessly focussed on delivering them. Our 4% consultant fee productivity increase is sector leading, our structural cost savings initiatives are progressing well, net fee growth in Enterprise accelerated to 12% in Q2, and Temp & Contracting net fees are growing strongly in several of our Focus countries.
"However, we continue to face considerable headwinds from economic conditions and our like-for-like operating profit declined by 56% YoY. The board and I are very grateful for the deep commitment shown by all our colleagues through this challenging period."