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Hays PLC on Thursday reported a plunge in annual profit, confirming the bad news the company gave to the market in a profit warning back in June. The London-based recruiter had said it expected annual profit to be below market consensus, as it grappled with challenging market conditions, amid ‘low levels of client and candidate confidence’. Hays on Thursday said pretax profit dropped by 90% to £1.5 million in financial year that ended June 30 from £14.7 million a year before, as net fees declined by 13% to £972.4 million from £1.11 billion. The fee decline was 11% at constant currency. Operating profit before exceptional items was £45.6 million, down 57% from £105.1 million. This was in line with the guidance the company provided back in June. Hays took £30.7 million in exceptional charges in the recent year, down from £80.0 million in financial 2024. The financial 2025 items consisted of a restructuring charge of £17.7 million in the recent year and £13.0 million in costs for technology and finance ‘transformation’ programmes. Basic loss per share widened to 0.49 pence from 0.31p. In response, Hays cut its dividend by 59% to 1.24p per share from 3.00p. Hays shares were down 5.3% to 60.13p. They are down 25% so far in 2025. The company said the 11% decline in net fees at constant currency was led by Permanent placements, where net fees were down 17%. Temp & Contracting placement fees were more resilient, it said, down 7%. ‘Market conditions remained challenging during the year, with economic and political uncertainty weighing on confidence, increasing ’time-to-hire’ and reducing placement volumes,’ explained Chief Executive Officer Dirk Hahn. ‘Despite making significant strategic and operational progress towards our long-term ambitions, our overall financial performance was impacted by these headwinds.’ Looking ahead, Hays said trading in financial 2026 so far is in line with the fourth quarter of financial 2025, with no significant change seen during July and August. ‘September is the key trading month in our first quarter, and it is too early to assess trends,’ the company said. Copyright 2025 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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