Hays Plc · LSE:HAS
Hays — FY2025 Earnings Presentation
64 slides from Hays's earnings presentation, August 2025
Slide 1: Preliminary Results for the Year Ended 30 June 2025
PRELIMINARY RESULTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2025 #CreateTomorrowTogether
Slide 2: Cautionary Statement
CAUTIONARY STATEMENT This presentation contains certain statements that are materially from those expressed or implied by those Markets Act 2000. Past performance cannot be relied neither reported financial results nor other historical statements. Accordingly, no assurance can be given that upon as
Slide 3: Agenda
AGENDA 1 OPERATIONAL & STRATEGIC REVIEW Dirk Hahn, Chief Executive Officer 2 FINANCIAL REVIEW James Hilton, Chief Financial Officer 3 CURRENT TRADING James Hilton, Chief Financial Officer 4 STRATEGY UPDATE Dirk Hahn, Chief Executive Officer 5 Q&A 3
Slide 4: Operational & Strategic Review
1. OPERATIONAL & STRATEGIC REVIEW Dirk Hahn Chief Executive Officer
Slide 5: Delivering Strategic Progress Despite Challenging Markets
DELIVERING STRATEGIC PROGRESS DESPITE CHALLENGING MARKETS Net Fees Operating Profit Strategic Progress • Group net fees down 11% to £972.4m • Operating profit‡ down 56% • Good progress applying our Five Levers and to £45.6m delivering on our Focused strategy • Temp & Contracting net fees decreased b
Slide 6: Germany – Financial Overview
RESILIENCE IN CONTRACTING, TOUGH MARKET CONDITIONS PERSIST IN TEMP AND PERM Germany – Financial overview Actual LFL FY25 share Net fees down 10%; operating profit‡ down 22% Year to 30 June 2025 2024 growth growth of Group • Temp & Contracting (84% of fees) decreased by 8%, Contracting resilient with
Slide 7: UK & Ireland – Financial Overview
A RETURN TO MODEST PROFIT IN H2 AFTER SIGNIFICANT ACTIONS TO BETTER POSITION THE BUSINESS UK & Ireland (UK&I)– Financial overview Actual LFL FY25 share Net fees down 15%; operating loss‡ of £(5.8)m Year to 30 June 2025 2024 growth growth of Group • Temp & Contracting net fees decreased by 12% with r
Slide 8: Australia & New Zealand – Financial Overview
GOOD PROGRESS IN DRIVING IMPROVED PRODUCTIVITY DESPITE TOUGH MARKET CONDITIONS Australia & New Zealand (ANZ) – Financial overview Actual LFL FY25 share Year to 30 June 2025 2024 growth growth of Group Net fees down 13%; operating profit‡ down 67% £ Net fees £116.2m £139.7m (17)% (13)% 12% • Temp & C
Slide 9: Rest of World – Financial Overview
LOSS-MAKING AS NORTHERN EUROPE WEAKNESS OFFSETS IMPROVED NORTH AMERICA PROFITABILITY Rest of World (RoW) – Financial overview Actual LFL FY25 share Net fees down 8%; operating profit‡ down 123% Year to 30 June 2025 2024 growth growth of Group Temp & Contracting net fees flat, Perm down 14% £ Net fee
Slide 10: Financial Review
2. FINANCIAL REVIEW James Hilton Chief Financial Officer
Slide 11: Operating Profit Down 56%, Strong Cash Generation and Balance Sheet
‡ OPERATING PROFIT DOWN 56%, STRONG CASH GENERATION AND BALANCE SHEET ‡ ‡ Net fees Operating profit Cash from Operations ** FY21 £918.1m FY21 £95.1m FY21 £130.8m FY22 £1,189.4m FY22 £210.1m FY22 £182.9m FY23 £1,294.6m FY23 £197.0m FY23 £199.3m FY24 £1,113.6m FY24 £105.1m FY24 £112.3m FY25 £972.4m FY
Slide 12: EPS Down 67%: Income Statement
Basic EPS‡ (p) EPS‡ DOWN 67%. DRIVEN BY LOWER OPERATING PROFIT, HIGHER NET FINANCE CHARGE AND HIGHER EFFECTIVE TAX RATE FY23 8.59 FY24 4.03 FY25 1.31 Income Statement Year ended 30 June 2025 2024 Reported LFL* £m £m growth growth Turnover 6,607.0 6,949.1 (5)% (4)% Net fees 972.4 1113.6 (13)% (11)% ‡
Slide 13: Net Fee Decline Driven by Lower Perm and Temp Volumes
Drivers of net fees (£m) NET FEE DECLINE DRIVEN BY LOWER PERM AND TEMP VOLUMES AND REDUCED GERMANY WORKING HOURS Permanent net fees* Temp & Contracting net fees* (17)% Net fee decrease (7)% Net fee decrease (20)% Volume decrease (6)% Volume decrease 3% Average Perm fee increase (2)% Decrease in aver
Slide 14: Decisive Actions to Manage Cost Base and Protect Profits
DECISIVE ACTIONS TO MANAGE COST BASE AND PROTECT PROFITS FY25 operating profit‡ bridge (£m) Payroll i) Consultant headcount reduced by 14% YoY ii) Non-consultant headcount reduced by 15% YoY iii) Commission and bonuses down £15.4m in line with net fee decline iv) Average pay increase of 3% from 1 Ju
Slide 15: c.£35m Structural Cost Savings Delivered in FY25
C.£35M PER ANNUM STRUCTURAL COST SAVINGS DELIVERED IN FY25, WITH FURTHER c.£45M PER ANNUM TARGETED BY FY29 We have reduced our cost base on a periodic Annualised cost reductions delivered in FY25 (£m) and constant currency basis from c.£81m in Q4 24 to c.£75m in Q4 25 • Completed Americas Finance tr
Slide 16: Exceptional Cost of £30.7 Million in FY25
EXCEPTIONAL COST OF £30.7 MILLION IN FY25 Year ended 30 June 2025 Operating Profit Profit (£m) Net fees Tax EPS profit before tax after tax FY25 Pre-exceptional 972.4 45.6 32.2 (11.3) 20.9 1.31 Operational Restructuring - (17.7) (17.7) 2.0 (15.7) (0.98) Technology and Finance Transformation - (13.0)
Slide 17: Higher Interest Charge and Higher Effective Tax Rate
HIGHER INTEREST CHARGE DRIVEN BY HIGHER RCF DRAWDOWN. HIGHER EFFECTIVE TAX RATE‡ (ETR) of 35.1% DRIVEN BY GEOGRAPHIC PROFIT MIX AND IMPACT OF TAX LOSSES Finance charge and taxation Year ended 30 June 2025 2024 Finance charge £m £m IFRS 16 interest on lease liabilities (non-cash) (4.6) (5.0) Net inte
Slide 18: Strong Cash Performance, 281% Cash Conversion
Cash from operations* (£m ) STRONG CASH PERFORMANCE, WITH 281% CASH CONVERSION FY23 199.3 AND SIGNIFICANT WORKING CAPITAL INFLOW FY24 112.3 FY25 128.3 Operating profit‡ to free cash flow bridge (FY25, £m) Uses of cash flow (FY25) Cash from operations* £128.3m (FY24: £112.3m) 281% cash conversion (FY
Slide 19: Debtor Days and Net Cash Position
DEBTOR DAYS UP MODESTLY, DUE TO GEOGRAPHIC MIX AND GROWTH IN ENTERPRISE CLIENTS, BUT BELOW PRE-PANDEMIC LEVEL Debtor days (Days Sales Outstanding) Cash position overview Closing net cash (£m) 39 NET CASH POSITION 410.6 37 FY25 ended with net cash of £37.0m 36 36 366.2 33 33 33 DEBTOR DAYS 296.2 £1.3
Slide 20: A Strong Balance Sheet
A STRONG BALANCE SHEET Balance sheet analysis RETIREMENT BENEFITS 30 Jun 30 Jun £m 2025 2024 • Completed the full DB pension buy-in of remaining c.£370m of liabilities. FY25 contribution totaling £21.0m, comprised five monthly deficit repair contribution payments of £8.4m and final Goodwill & intang
Slide 21: Realigned Dividend and Capital Allocation Framework
REALIGNED DIVIDEND AND CAPITAL ALLOCATION FRAMEWORK TO FUND OUR GROWTH INITIATIVES, MAINTAIN A STRONG BALANCE SHEET AND GENERATE ATTRACTIVE RETURNS FOR SHAREHOLDERS FY25 Dividend Free cash flow priorities and capital allocation • Invest in consultant headcount, technology Fund Group investment inves
Slide 22: Financial Summary
FINANCIAL SUMMARY Dividend and capital Fees Profits Cash & balance sheet allocation Net fees down 11% to £972.4m Operating profit‡ down 56% to Strong cash generation Final dividend of 0.29p • Fees down 11%, as market conditions £45.6m • Cash conversion** of 281% with closing • Full year dividend to
Slide 23: Current Trading
3. CURRENT TRADING James Hilton Chief Financial Officer
Slide 24: July and August Trading In-Line with Expectations
JULY AND AUGUST TRADING HAS BEEN IN-LINE WITH OUR EXPECTATIONS Current trading conditions and outlook • July and August to date have been in line with our expectations, with no significant change to trading momentum from Q4. September is the key trading month of the quarter, and it is too early to a
Slide 25: Strategy
4. STRATEGY Dirk Hahn Chief Executive Officer
Slide 26: Our Five Key Strategic Levers
OUR FIVE KEY STRATEGIC LEVERS Enhancing our Greater focus on Increased focus on Building stronger Increasing leading position in higher skilled, resilient and relationships proportion of the most in- higher paid growing end- with our Temp & demand job roles markets clients Contracting categories fee
Slide 27: Consultant Productivity Up 5% in FY25
CONSULTANT PRODUCTIVITY UP 5% IN FY25. SECTOR-LEADING MOMENTUM THROUGHOUT THE YEAR 13,000 120 US • Consultant net fee productivity +38% 12,000 110 YoY • Back to profitability from losses in the 11,000 prior year 100 10,000 UK&I £ per period 90 • Decisive action to improve productivity & operational
Slide 28: Strong 8% Growth in Enterprise Solutions Net Fees
STRONG 8% GROWTH IN ENTERPRISE SOLUTIONS NET FEES IN FY25 21.5 14% 21.0 12% Net Fee Growth Drivers 10% 1. Headcount investment, higher fill- 20.5 rates, and geographic expansion 8% with existing clients 20.0 6% 2. New wins from first generation MSP outsourcing & rewarding wins from 19.5 £m net fees
Slide 29: Improving Our Net Fee Mix
IMPROVING OUR NET FEE MIX FY25 YoY Temp & Contracting net fee growth Key countries Focus Countries 29% 19% 16% 7% 5% -7% -8% -8% -9% -11% -13% Italy Poland Spain Austria USA France Australia Germany Switzerland Japan UK Temp & Contracting increased to 62% of Group net fees in FY25, Positive growth i
Slide 30: Relentless Focus on Strategic Execution
RELENTLESS FOCUS ON STRATEGIC EXECUTION TO REPOSITION AND RESHAPE THE BUSINESS • Invest in high potential and high performing • Closed several business lines, we reshaped our business lines portfolio from 33 countries to 31 in FY25 • Scale back or exit low potential business lines • Divested our sta
Slide 31: The Route Back to Prior Peak Profit
THE ROUTE BACK TO PRIOR PEAK PROFIT Driving Consultant Improving Cyclical Net Fee Productivity Operational Recovery Efficiency • Higher skill/higher paid • Business model roles optimisation • Maintain operational • Building efficient and rigour to deliver strong • Optimal consultant scalable support
Slide 32: Appendix 1: FY25 Results Supporting Materials
APPENDIX 1 FY25 Results supporting materials
Slide 33: Like-for-Like Summary
LIKE-FOR-LIKE SUMMARY 2024 FX impact Organic 2025 LFL* Year ended 30 June £m £m £m £m growth Net fees Germany 351.8 (7.5) (35.4) 308.9 (10)% United Kingdom & Ireland 225.7 (0.2) (33.3) 192.2 (15)% Australia & New Zealand 139.7 (5.6) (17.9) 116.2 (13)% Rest of World 396.4 (9.8) (31.5) 355.1 (8)% Grou
Slide 34: Full-Year and Half-Year Growth Analysis by Division
FULL-YEAR AND HALF-YEAR GROWTH ANALYSIS AND CONVERSION RATE BY DIVISION Net fee growth* FY23 Q1 24 Q2 24 H1 24 Q3 24 Q4 24 H2 24 FY24 Q1 25 Q2 25 H1 25 Q3 25 Q4 25 H2 25 FY25 versus same period last year Germany 19% 7% 0% 3% (13)% (17)% (16)% (7)% (13)% (13)% (13)% (9)% (5)% (7)% (10)% United Kingdo
Slide 35: Rest of World Performance by Country/Market
REST OF WORLD PERFORMANCE BY COUNTRY/MARKET Net fee No. of Consultant Country/Region Focus/Emerging Net fees (£m) Rest of World net fees growth* offices headcount France Focus 60.6 (19)% 16 386 USA Focus 47.7 3% 10 213 Switzerland Focus 31.3 (14)% 4 116 Benelux Emerging 30.0 (10)% 9 172 Other Spain
Slide 36: Consultant Headcount and Office Network
CONSULTANT HEADCOUNT AND OFFICE NETWORK Consultants Offices Half-on-half Year-on-year As at 30 As at 31 Change since As at 30 Change since As at 30 As at 30 Change since Jun 2025 Dec 2024 Dec 2024 Jun 2024 Jun 2024 Jun 2025 Jun 2024 Jun 2024 Germany 1,624 1,785 (9)% 1,858 (13)% 26 26 - United Kingdo
Slide 37: Appendix 2: Our Markets
APPENDIX 2 Our markets HAYS
Slide 38: Global Recruitment Market Generated c.$220bn Net Fees in 2024
GLOBAL RECRUITMENT MARKET GENERATED c.$220BN NET FEES IN 2024 Hays currently has a mere 0.5% share of the global market Professional recruitment accounts for c.60% of the market 21 countries account for 95% of the global professional recruitment market Hays has a physical presence in 20 of the top 2
Slide 39: The Top 21 Countries Account for 95% of the Global Market
THE TOP 21 COUNTRIES ACCOUNT FOR 95% OF THE GLOBAL MARKET Hays Key countries 2024 Staffing Net Fees by country Germany UK Australia Hays Focus countries Austria France Italy Japan Poland Spain Switzerland USA Hays Emerging countries Belgium Netherlands Portugal Denmark Sweden Hungary Romania UAE Ire
Slide 40: Why Use an Agency?
WHY USE AN AGENCY? Recruitment hierarchy: Attempt to fill internally, advertise on own website, then use a job board or an agency • Traditional Agency – Hays, for example • RPO/MSP – Partial or full outsourcing of internal recruitment to a specialist provider • Hiring Platforms – Technology-led auto
Slide 41: Agencies Have Faster Time-to-Fill
AGENCIES HAVE FASTER TIME-TO-FILL DUE TO BETTER INSIGHTS & ACCESS TO PASSIVE CANDIDATES 41
Slide 42: Agency Penetration Rate Varies Widely by Region
AGENCY PENETRATION RATE VARIES WIDELY BY REGION • UK is the most mature market for recruitment services globally • Penetration rate in ANZ is closer to Asia than the UK • Penetration in Germany lags other major European economies Bubble size denotes Hays net • Outsourcing penetration rate has fees,
Slide 43: Hays Has Leading Positions in Many Fragmented Markets
HAYS HAS LEADING POSITIONS IN MANY FRAGMENT MARKETS Hays is: • As large as the next five competitors combined in Germany • More than twice as large as the next three competitors combined in Australia • Market leader in the UK • Top three player in France • Regional player in North America, with sign
Slide 44: Strategy Designed to Capitalise on Workplace Megatrends
OUR STRATEGY IS DESIGNED TO CAPITALISE ON POWERFUL WORKPLACE MEGATRENDS Hays’ role is to help solve these problems for our clients and candidates 44
Slide 45: Appendix 3: Strategy, Business Model, Investment Case
APPENDIX 3 Our strategy, business model, investment case and capital allocation framework
Slide 46: A Balanced Portfolio
A balanced portfolio FY 25 net fees by category Public sector Full 16% outsourced 20% Technology 25% Contracting 25% Germany 32% Professional 34% PSL 20% A&F 15% UK&I 20% Engineering 11% Perm 38% C&P 11% Private sector ANZ 12% 84% Multiple placements 40% Office Support 5% Life Sciences 4% Technical
Slide 47: Significant Mix Shift Towards Resilient Specialisms
SIGNIFICANT MIX SHIFT TOWARDS MORE RESILIENT, STRUCTURAL GROWTH SPECIALISMS OVER LAST 15 YEARS Note: FY08 - FY10 Engineering net fees are estimated and were originally reported within C&P • Over the last 15 years we have moved away from more cyclical specialisms such as C&P and A&F • We now have gre
Slide 48: Our Divisional Exposures in Detail
OUR DIVISIONAL EXPOSURES IN DETAIL FY25 net fees by category Note: A&F is Accountancy & Finance; C&P is Construction & Property 48
Slide 49: High and Rising Salary Levels and Substantial Enterprise Portfolio
HIGH AND RISING SALARY LEVELS AND A SUBSTANTIAL ENTERPRISE PORTFOLIO Enterprise clients – c.£225m of fees in FY25 What we mean by Enterprise clients • >40% of Group net fees are from clients who spend over £250k per annum with Hays. This represents our top 400 clients • We have outsourced contracts
Slide 50: Our Surplus Capital Allocation History
OUR SURPLUS CAPITAL ALLOCATION HISTORY • Return surplus cash to shareholders through an appropriate combination of • Maintain a dividend that is affordable and Excess cash special dividends and share buybacks, Core dividend appropriate returns policy subject to the economic outlook policy • Target c
Slide 51: Appendix 4
APPENDIX 4 HAYS
Slide 52: Financial Archive – Net Fees, Operating Profit and Consultant Headcount
‡ FINANCIAL ARCHIVE – NET FEES, OPERATING PROFIT AND CONSULTANT HEADCOUNT £ Net fees by division (£m) £ Operating profit‡ by division (£m) 1,295 243 249 1,189 1,130 1,114 212 210 1,073 41 42 996 972 197 955 918 181 27 40 810 458 66 36 339 368 417 22 69 135 396 63 291 340 188 52 32 312 355 44 230 199
Slide 53: Germany Profile – 32% of Group Net Fees
GERMANY PROFILE – 32% OF GROUP NET FEES Snapshot - #1 market position* - Structurally developing market - Sectoral diversification Net fees by specialism (FY25) £ Historical headline net fees (£m) £ Historical headline operating profit‡ (£m) 382 7% 352 6% 314 100 300 309 5% 91 276 86 33% 260 81 5% 2
Slide 54: UK & Ireland Profile – 20% of Group Net Fees
UK & IRELAND PROFILE – 20% OF GROUP NET FEES Snapshot - #1 market position* - Diverse sector exposure - Nationwide coverage Net fees by specialism (FY25) £ Historical headline net fees (£m) £ Historical headline operating profit‡ (£m) 52 47 49 272 272 46 19% 253 258 264 263 266 42 43 244 242 246 32%
Slide 55: Australia & New Zealand Profile
Snapshot AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND PROFILE – 12% OF GROUP NET FEES, - #1 market position* - Diverse sector experience WITH AUSTRALIA REPRESENTING 94% OF DIVISIONAL NET FEES - Geographical diversification Net fees by specialism (FY25) £ Historical headline net fees (£m) £ Historical headline operating
Slide 56: Rest of World Profile
REST OF WORLD PROFILE – REPRESENTS 36% OF GROUP Snapshot NET FEES, WITH FRANCE OUR LARGEST RoW MARKET - Structural growth opportunities - Diverse sector exposure - Geographical diversification Net fees by specialism (FY25) £ Historical headline net fees (£m) £ Historical headline operating profit‡ (
Slide 57: Financial Archive Net Fees and Operating Profit (Local Currency)
FINANCIAL ARCHIVE ‡ NET FEES AND OPERATING PROFIT (LOCAL CURRENCY) $ Australia & New Zealand - Historical net fees (AUDm) $ Australia & New Zealand - Historical operating profit‡ (AUDm) 347 359 359 323 337 134 321 293 305 120 120 288 116 274 263 273 268 106 232 245 232 98 95 88 90 91 80 83 72 58 22
Slide 58: Financial Archive Quarterly Net Fee Growth
FINANCIAL ARCHIVE QUARTERLY NET FEE GROWTH % Germany % UK & Ireland 38% 39% 37% 32% 29% 48% 26% 45% 22% 23% 33% 11% 29% 7% 22% 0% 0% (5%) 11% (9%) (9%) (13%) (13%)(13%) 4% (5%) (17%) (7%) (2%) (4%) (4%) (7%) (10%) (14%) (11%) (13%) (13%) (20%) (20%) (17%)(16%)(17%)(20%)(14%) (33%) (31%) (34%) (42%)
Slide 59: Financial Archive Quarterly Net Fee and Consultant Growth
FINANCIAL ARCHIVE QUARTERLY NET FEE AND CONSULTANT GROWTH % Temp Net fees % Perm Net fees 67% 65% 61% 48% 24% 26% 22% 21% 16% 14% 31% 16% 9% 11% 7% 0% 4% 0% 0% (5%) (5%) (2%) (7%) (6%)(10%) (12%) (15%) (14%) (3%) (7%) (6%) (9%) (18%) (20%) (5%) (10%) (26%) (13%) (13%) (12%) (14%) (35%) (17%) (20%) (
Slide 60: Appendix 5: Q4 Details
APPENDIX 5 Q4 details HAYS
Slide 61: Financial Summary
Financial Summary Growth in net fees for the quarter ended 30 June 2025 (Q4 25) YoY Growth Actual LFL Germany (6)% (5)% United Kingdom & Ireland (UK&I) (13)% (13)% Australia & New Zealand (ANZ) (17)% (10)% Rest of World (RoW) (10)% (9)% Total (10)% (9)% Temp & Contracting (7)% (5)% Permanent (15)% (
Slide 62: Divisional Net Fee Analysis
Divisional Net Fee Analysis Temp & Contracting Perm Total % of % of Volume Price/Mix/ Volume Price/Mix/ % of Group Divisional LFL Divisional LFL LFL change Hours change Hours net fees net fees net fees Germany 86% (10)% 7% (3)% 14% (28)% 9% (19)% 32% (5)% United Kingdom & Ireland 59% (12)% (1)% (13)
Slide 63: Headcount Analysis
Headcount analysis Consultant Headcount change Productivity Change Vs Q3 25 Vs Q4 24 Vs Q4 24 Germany (5)% (13)% 8% United Kingdom & Ireland (5)% (21)% 9% Australia & New Zealand (2)% (7)% 3% Rest of World (9)% (12)% 3% Total (6)% (14)% 5% ‡ Excludes exceptional items. 63
Slide 64: Further Information
FURTHER INFORMATION Kean Marden Head of Investor Relations & M&A Rob Maguire Investor Relations & ESG Manager ir@hays.com +44 (0)333 010 7092 For more information about the Group: haysplc.com/investors