Hays (HAS)

Shares in recruitment specialist Hays (HAS) recovered from their early losses to trade sideways at 139p at midday after the firm reported slowing growth in net fee income in the year to the end of June. For the full year net fees grew by 6% on a like-for-like basis to £1.13bn but the rate of increase slowed sharply from around 10% in the first quarter to just 1% in the final quarter on a ...

UK stocks start Thursday trading on the front foot buoyed by a firm showing for US markets overnight, offsetting more trade tariff tightening that will see the US impose an extra $300bn burden on Chinese goods by the end of the year. The pound continues its decline as investors worry about Brexit no-deal implications, although comes as a boon for the FTSE 100, sidestepping the swathe of mid cap ...

Staffing firm Hays (HAS) falls 2% to 148p on Tuesday after it publishes flat fee growth for the final quarter of its financial year against expectations of a 2% to 3% increase. However the shares seem to be supported as earnings look broadly in line with estimates and analysts are penciling in a special dividend payment thanks to the firm's healthy year-end cash pile. In its biggest ...

British luxury brand Burberry (BRBY) storms to the top of the FTSE 100 leader board in early trade after first quarter sales topped expectations. Shares in Burberry surged nearly 9% higher to £21.60, adding more than £700m to the firm's previous £8.2bn market valuation, as the company reported a 4% rise in comparable store revenues. This is follows a swathe of new designs as new ...

Does a fund with more than 25% of its holdings in cash tell you the managers are fearful? In the case of JO Hambro Capital Management UK Opportunities Fund (B95HP81) it is a mixture of the managers believing the market is over-valued and to also have the capacity to pounce on any sudden opportunities. Many investors may come to the conclusion that such a large cash position would be a drag on ...

UK stocks open weaker on Wednesday with the FTSE 100 index of leading stocks drifting off by 0.2% to 7,522 due to softness in Beverages, Personal Goods, Tobacco and Utilities Housebuilder Barratt Developments (BDEV) delivers a positive trading update for the year to 30 June and forecasts annual pre-tax profit above the current market consensus of £884m thanks to a big improvement in operating ...

Shares in Robert Walters (RWA) seem to be bucking a weak recruitment sector in the wake of a negative note on Dutch firm Randstad from influential investment bank Goldman Sachs. While the share price has stayed flat at 600p, valuing Robert Walters at £456m, larger operators Hays (HAS) and PageGroup (PAGE) are both off by a couple of percent on Tuesday. In Robert Walters' favour is ...

Shares in the world’s largest recruitment firm Hays (HAS) are down 4% to 157p this morning after its third quarter trading update prompted a round of selling at the open. Group net fee income grew by 5% in the three months to the end of March, adjusted for the timing of Easter, which marked a slowdown from the 9% growth posted in the second quarter. READ MORE ABOUT HAYS HERE Hays’ key ...

UK stocks continue to tread water heading into the Easter Break due to a lack of direction from political and economic events. The FTSE 100 is up 0.1% to 7,445 points with most sectors in positive territory except Oils and Utilities. Shares in sports fashion retailer JD Sports (JD.) pop 4% higher to 555p after the company reports better than expected full year earnings on sales up almost ...

While the pound is getting a lift this morning on press reports that a Brexit deal is being ‘hammered out’ with the European Union, corporate results are weighing on stocks with the FTSE 100 index slipping 0.6% to 7,182. Star pupil and topping the leader board up 3% to 164p is Barclays (BARC) which reported full year earnings in line with market estimates. Unlike HSBC (HSBA) there were ...

Shares in specialist recruiter SThree (STHR) have risen by 4% to 284p after full year results hit the firm’s recently raised guidance. Total revenue was up 13% last year to £1.26bn with gross profit up 12% to £321m and pre-tax profit up 20% to £53.4m. Like its larger rivals, the company’s biggest markets are outside the UK which makes it more resilient to political and economic ...

Figures last week from Germany’s Federal Statistical Office showed that gross domestic product (GDP) grew by just 1.5% in 2018, the slowest rate for five years. That meant that GDP was barely positive in the fourth quarter, up by an estimated 0.1%. If the fourth quarter had been negative like the third quarter, which shrank by 0.2%, Germany would technically be in recession. With China ...

We have a better picture of how the UK jobs market looks as we approach Brexit now that all three big UK-listed recruitment firms have reported quarterly results. At Hays (HAS), the UK’s biggest recruitment firm, UK net fee income was up 3% in the most recent quarter, the same rate as the previous quarter. At PageGroup (PAGE) UK net fees grew by 2.1%, better than the previous ...

Shares in recruitment firm Hays (HAS) buck the recent trend to trade 2% higher at 145p after the company reports another quarter of growth in fee income. Rivals Robert Walters (RWA) and PageGroup (PAGE) were marked down following their latest updates, despite reporting fee growth of 13% and 16%. MOST CORE MARKETS PERFORMING WELL Hays’ net fee income – also referred to as gross ...

News of Chinese stimulus helps support the FTSE 100 as investors await the outcome of today's crunch vote on Brexit later. Theresa May's draft deal is widely expected to be voted down. The FTSE 100 is currently 0.2% higher at 6,867.15, though the more domestic-facing FTSE 250 reverses earlier gains to trade 0.2% lower. House builder Persimmon (PSN) dips 1% to £22.07 as it guides for annual ...

With unemployment in the UK and across many countries at historic lows and a shrinking working-age population, employers are increasingly having to turn to recruitment experts to solve their staffing needs. The global employment market is worth in the region of £450bn a year and is expected to grow at about one-and-a-half times the rate of global GDP up to 2020. The biggest three players to ...

Shares in recruiter Hays (HAS) are among the biggest fallers in the FTSE 350 index losing 13% after the company reported first-quarter net fee income just shy of estimates. Group net fees were up 9% on a like-for-like basis in the first quarter against a run-rate of 10%-plus over the previous four quarters. The slowdown was due to a moderation in growth in continental Europe during the ...

UK stocks get off to a weak start on Thursday following declines in Asia and falls in US index futures as US Treasury yields topped 3.2% for the first time since 2011. Stronger-than-expected US payroll data yesterday and high oil prices are stoking fears of higher interest rates ahead. An increase in the Treasury yield, commonly seen as the ‘risk-free’ rate for investing, tends to be ...

International recruitment agency Hays (HAS) has increased both its normal and special dividend by 18%, bringing the total payout for the past financial year to 8.81p per share. This equates to £128.4m being returned to shareholders, a substantial increase on 2017’s £108.2m. The company’s full year earnings per share figure beat market forecasts by 2%, coming in at 11.44p. Hays managed ...

The FTSE 100 is down 48 points to 7,514 as positive trading in the US fails to cross the pond to the UK. As the pound continues to make gains against the dollar, the overseas earning constituents of the main index feel the strain. FTSE 250 staffer Hays (HAS) is down 2.7% to 197.35p on release of its full year results. The company’s pre-tax profits grew by 17% to £238.5m and raised its core ...