Recruitment firm says North America, Northern Europe conditions softer than expected

By Steve Goldstein

Randstad earnings lag forecasts

Shares of recruitment firm Randstad fell as much as 7% as the company said it experienced softer than expected conditions in North America and Northern Europe and that tough conditions continued in April.

The company (NL:RAND) said its first-quarter profit dived 43% to EUR88 million as revenue dropped 9% to EUR5.94 billion.

Its underlying EBITA fell 33% to EUR177 million. Analysts polled by Visible Alpha had expected an EBITA of EUR188 million on sales of EUR5.92 billion.

What it calls revenue per working day fell 15% in North America and dropped 15% in Germany.

CFO Jorge Vazquez said while North American sectors such as healthcare, government and hospitality are doing fine, manufacturing has seen a long decline in temporary staffing, though it's stabilizing.

Randstad said the "subdued activity level" from its clients continued in April with volumes sequentially stable vs. March.

Randstad at the end of the first quarter employed 607,100 temporary workers globally. While its own employee count didn't change from the fourth quarter, Randstad says it's been closing offices, reducing the number of outlets it had by 153.

-Steve Goldstein

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04-23-24 0823ET

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