Hays 2017 final results
Operating profit up 17% to £211.5m, driven by International profit growth and exchange rate gains
Continental Europe & Rest of World: strong, broad-based 12% net fee growth; operating profit up 7%
- Record net fee performance in Germany, up 14%; operating profit up 9% to £80.5m
- Net fees up 11% across the rest of the division. France net fees up 16% driving £10.8m operating profit
Asia Pacific: good overall net fee growth of 9%; operating profit growth of 10%
- Net fee growth accelerated through the year in Australia, driving strong 18% operating profit growth
- Asia subdued but stable overall, with flat net fees, as banking markets remained tough
UK & Ireland: net fees down 7%; operating profit down 21%
- Markets tough but broadly stable since November 2016. Quick, early action to best defend profit
- Private sector (74% of net fees) saw a marked step-down after the EU Referendum, but improved sequentially in H2 and exited the year with moderate year-on-year growth. Public sector remained challenging
Significant headcount investment, up 10% year-on-year, including Germany up 24%, Australia up 15%
Closing net cash of £111.6m, with strong 103% conversion of operating profit into operating cash flow
Proposed increase in full-year core dividend of 11% to 3.22p per share and special dividend of £61.6m (4.25p per share), resulting in total dividend pay-out of £108.3m (2016: £41.7m)
