11 November 2009
Hays plc: Annual General Meeting statement
Hays plc, the leading global specialist recruitment group, will hold its Annual General Meeting today. Bob Lawson, Chairman, will make the following comments to shareholders:
"On 8 October, we issued an Interim Management Statement for the quarter ended 30 September 2009. In that statement we stated that the specialist recruitment markets continued to be very challenging and that net fees in the quarter had declined by 37% (decreasing 40% on a like-for-like basis*) versus the same period last year. We also made the following comments about market conditions and management actions.
We are seeing early signs of stability in the United Kingdom and broader signs of stability in Asia Pacific, although at present no indications of recovery in either market. The Continental Europe markets, which entered into the downturn later than other regions, are still experiencing deteriorating conditions although the rate of decline has moderated. Whilst the indications are that this year will be another tough year for our industry, the downturn presents opportunities for market leading companies like Hays to gain share and we will continue to pursue those opportunities and invest in our business accordingly.
These comments still apply today. We will provide a more detailed trading update for the quarter ending 31 December 2009 on 7 January 2010."
* LFL is like-for-like growth, which represents organic growth of continuing activities at constant currency.
Enquiries
Hays plc
Paul Venables Finance Director + 44 (0) 20 7383 2266
James Hilton Investor Relations + 44 (0) 20 7383 2266
Maitland
Neil Bennett + 44 (0) 20 7379 5151
Liz Morley
Reporting calendar
Trading statement for quarter ending 31 December 2009 7 January 2010
Half Year Report for 6 months ending 31 December 2009 25 February 2010
Interim management statement for quarter ending 31 March 2010 8 April 2010
Trading statement for quarter ending 30 June 2010 8 July 2010