Hays (HAS) investor relations material

Executive summary

• Q1 net fees declined 3% LFL and 5% actual; Temp & Contracting fell 1% LFL and Permanent 7%, with September growth at -2%.

• The decline eased as North America returned to growth; 50% of operations recorded positive YoY net fee growth, up from 30% in the prior quarter.

Financial highlights

• Regional net fees LFL: Germany -6%, UK & Ireland -5%, ANZ -3% and Rest of World flat; actual growth was -7%, -5%, -5% and +4%, respectively.

• Temp & Contracting volumes declined 3% YoY; price, mix and German hours worked contributed +2%. Permanent volumes fell 12%, while average Permanent fees rose 5%.

• Structural savings of ~£10m were achieved in Q1 toward the £50m FY27 target; ~£125m per annum has been delivered since FY24 began.

Outlook and guidance

• Near-term market conditions were expected to remain stable, with Temp & Contracting more resilient than Permanent; no material working-day impacts were anticipated in Q2 FY27.

• The £50m FY27 structural savings target remained on track, with management expecting to reach a sensible midpoint by H1.

• Medium-term net fees above £1bn are expected to rely more on productivity gains than consultant headcount growth; the productivity ambition is to increase by more than 50%.

• Structural savings and productivity initiatives support a potential return to a conversion rate of 25% or above; savings alone were expected to support 15% or slightly higher.