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Hays PLC on Thursday boosted its dividend, following a surge in full-year profit, due to favourable market conditions and benefits from wage inflation.
Hays shares were trading 2.7% higher at 117.90 pence each in London on Thursday morning.
For the year which ended June 30, the London-based recruiter reported a pretax profit of £204.3 million, more than doubled compared to £88.1 million the year before.
This was on a revenue of £6.59 billion, up 17% from £5.65 billion.
The FTSE 250 listed firm credited its performance to strong markets and acute skill shortages it was able to capitalise on.
Additionally, Hays cited its ability to increase fee margins and wage inflation.
Encouraged by its ‘strong recovery’ in profitability, Hays proposed a final dividend of 1.90 pence per share, taking its total payout for financial 2022 to 2.85 pence. This is more than doubled from 1.22 pence the year prior. However, it proposed a special dividend of 7.34p, 18% lower than 8.93p a year ago.
Looking ahead, Chief Executive Alistair Cox said: ‘Our focus is now on leveraging the investments we have made and increasing our already strong consultant productivity. We have a clear strategy to continually build market-leading positions in the most attractive structural growth markets, which are characterised by ongoing skill shortages. Our global network, financial strength and highly experienced management teams give me confidence that we can navigate current uncertainties and remain highly focused on delivering our long-term objectives.’
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