Adecco profit jumps as France, Italy need more temporary workers

The world’s biggest temporary staffing group Adecco reported Tuesday a 22-percent jump in net profit, buoyed by rising demand in France and Italy.

The 176 million euros ($192 million) earned in the first three months of the year beat the 164 million expected by analysts surveyed by Swiss financial news agency AWP.

Revenues rose by seven percent to 5.7 billion euros, and when adjusted for the number of working days and the effects of sales and acquisitions, the gain was six percent.

Adecco “maintained its positive momentum” in the first quarter of this year, chief executive Alain Dehaze said in a statement.

Dehaze added that “every one of our regional business segments delivered positive revenue growth.”

In France, revenues climbed eight percent to 1.2 billion euros thanks to strong demand from the construction, logistics and automotive sectors.

All European markets showed growth, with revenues in Italy jumping by 28 percent.

The company has not released annual forecasts and noted that “the global economic outlook remains uncertain.”

Nevertheless it said the positive momentum continued in March and April with organic and trading days adjusted revenue growth of 5-6 percent.

noo/rl/ric