Randstad beats expectations for Q2 core earnings (updated)

ManpowerGroup

25/07/2023 06:38

(Adds quote from CEO in paragraph 4, details and context in
paragraphs 3, 5-7)
       July 25 (Reuters) - Randstad  RAND.AS , the world's
biggest staffing firm, on Tuesday beat expectations for second
quarter core earnings, despite a difficult macroeconomic
environment. 
    Its underlying earnings before interest, tax and
amortisation (EBITA) were 271 million euros ($300.05 million) in
the three months to the end of June, against 260 million
expected by analysts in a company-provided poll.
    The earnings were, however, down compared with the 308
million euros posted in the same period a year earlier. 
    "We have seen performance levels below the record results
achieved in the same period last year," said CEO Sander van't
Noordende in a statement. 
    Staffing companies - whose performance is often seen as a
bellwether of broader economic health - have flagged low
confidence and a weaker market this year as a grim economic
outlook leads some employers to cut jobs, freeze hiring or turn
to temporary workers. 
    Randstad said revenue grew in the Asia-Pacific and Latin
America, with "mixed trends" seen in Europe and a decline in
North America. 
    The company said on Tuesday it expects its gross margin in
the third quarter to be "slightly lower sequentially". 
       
($1 = 0.9032 euros)

 (Reporting by Olivier Sorgho in Gdansk; Editing by Jacqueline
Wong)
 ((Olivier.Sorgho@thomsonreuters.com))