Breaking News
Investing Pro 0
👀 Bezos, Buffett & Berkowitz: What's in Their Portfolios? Unlock Data

PageGroup Slides After Hinting at Slowdown in Hiring in Ju

Published Aug 08, 2022 11:24
Saved. See Saved Items.
This article has already been saved in your Saved Items
 
© Reuters.
 
PAGE
+0.36%
Add to/Remove from a Portfolio
Add to Watchlist
Add Position

Position added successfully to:

Please name your holdings portfolio
 
MPGPY
0.00%
Add to/Remove from a Portfolio
Add to Watchlist
Add Position

Position added successfully to:

Please name your holdings portfolio
 

By Geoffrey Smith 

Investing.com -- Shares in PageGroup (LON:PAGE) slumped on Monday in London after the recruitment group said it had taken longer to fill jobs in some of its markets in July.

The news raised fears that the jobs boom that has fueled its recent growth is ending, although the company still said its full-year operating profit would be in line with market consensus forecasts.

"We recognise the heightened degree of global macro-economic and geo-political uncertainty, particularly with regards to increasing inflation around the world," Page said in one of the more gentle warnings out of London-listed companies in recent weeks. "In July, we noted a slight slowing in time to hire in some of our markets, and we continue to closely monitor our forward-looking (key performance indicators)."

The words of caution came alongside a set of half-year results that amply illustrated how well the recruitment sector has fared in a labor market where demand for talent is far outstripping available workers in many sectors. Revenue rose 27% to 977.3 million pounds ($1.18 billion), while gross profit increased 33% to 538.9 million and operating profit rose 79% to 115.3 million. Permanent placements, on which the group makes over three-quarters of its profits, accounted for a rising share of overall placements at 44%, compared to 41% a year earlier.

North America, in particular, delivered a record first half, with U.S. revenue up 43% in constant currencies. Property and Construction, its largest segment in the U.S., delivered growth of 53%, albeit that benefited from a weak comparative quarter a year earlier. It also reported strong growth in Technology Healthcare & Life Sciences.

Page's announcement comes one working day after the July U.S. employment took markets by surprise with another 528,000 rise in nonfarm jobs, suggesting that the hiring boom still has legs despite the Federal Reserve's efforts to cool the labor market down.

The group also announced a special dividend of 26.7 pence a share for the second year running, along with a 4.5% increase in its regular dividend to 4.9 pence a share. Total payouts for 2021 thus totaled 41.9 pence a share, or more than 10% of its price as of 11 AM ET (1500 GMT).

PageGroup Slides After Hinting at Slowdown in Hiring in Ju
 

Related Articles

Add a Comment

Comment Guidelines

We encourage you to use comments to engage with users, share your perspective and ask questions of authors and each other. However, in order to maintain the high level of discourse we’ve all come to value and expect, please keep the following criteria in mind: 

  • Enrich the conversation
  • Stay focused and on track. Only post material that’s relevant to the topic being discussed.
  • Be respectful. Even negative opinions can be framed positively and diplomatically.
  •  Use standard writing style. Include punctuation and upper and lower cases.
  • NOTE: Spam and/or promotional messages and links within a comment will be removed
  • Avoid profanity, slander or personal attacks directed at an author or another user.
  • Don’t Monopolize the Conversation. We appreciate passion and conviction, but we also believe strongly in giving everyone a chance to air their thoughts. Therefore, in addition to civil interaction, we expect commenters to offer their opinions succinctly and thoughtfully, but not so repeatedly that others are annoyed or offended. If we receive complaints about individuals who take over a thread or forum, we reserve the right to ban them from the site, without recourse.
  • Only English comments will be allowed.

Perpetrators of spam or abuse will be deleted from the site and prohibited from future registration at Investing.com’s discretion.

Write your thoughts here
 
Are you sure you want to delete this chart?
 
Post
Post also to:
 
Replace the attached chart with a new chart ?
1000
Your ability to comment is currently suspended due to negative user reports. Your status will be reviewed by our moderators.
Please wait a minute before you try to comment again.
Thanks for your comment. Please note that all comments are pending until approved by our moderators. It may therefore take some time before it appears on our website.
 
Are you sure you want to delete this chart?
 
Post
 
Replace the attached chart with a new chart ?
1000
Your ability to comment is currently suspended due to negative user reports. Your status will be reviewed by our moderators.
Please wait a minute before you try to comment again.
Add Chart to Comment
Confirm Block

Are you sure you want to block %USER_NAME%?

By doing so, you and %USER_NAME% will not be able to see any of each other's Investing.com's posts.

%USER_NAME% was successfully added to your Block List

Since you’ve just unblocked this person, you must wait 48 hours before renewing the block.

Report this comment

I feel that this comment is:

Comment flagged

Thank You!

Your report has been sent to our moderators for review
Continue with Google
or
Sign up with Email