Adecco Group (ADEN) Q2 2026 earnings summary

Executive summary

• Organic revenue grew 5.6% year-on-year on a trading days adjusted basis, with strong market share gains and consistent outperformance versus competitors.

• EBITA (excluding one-offs) rose 21% year-on-year to €165 million, with margin up 30 bps to 2.8%, reflecting robust operating leverage.

• Adjusted EPS increased 31% year-on-year to €0.61; basic EPS was €0.28, impacted by higher one-off costs.

• Agentic AI deployment accelerated, now enabling 50% of revenue, with a target of 70% by end-2026, driving productivity and client wins.

• Net debt/EBITDA improved by 0.5x year-on-year, reflecting ongoing deleveraging.

Financial highlights

• Revenues reached €6.0 billion in Q2, up 5.6% organically and 4% reported year-on-year.

• Gross profit was €1.1 billion, with a margin of 18.6%, up 20 bps sequentially but down 30 bps year-on-year.

• EBITA (excluding one-offs) was €165 million, with a margin of 2.8%, up 30 bps year-on-year.

• Free cash flow was negative at €-14 million, reflecting working capital absorption for growth.

• Net debt stood at €2,647 million, with net debt/EBITDA at 2.7x, a 0.5x improvement year-on-year.

Outlook and guidance

• Positive volume momentum continues into Q3, with expectations for modest sequential gross margin improvement.

• SG&A expenses (excluding one-offs) expected to be lower sequentially.

• Management remains focused on market share gains, cost control, and deleveraging, with a target of net debt/EBITDA ≤1.5x by end-2027.

• Year-on-year EBITDA margin improvement expected to continue into H2.