Slide 1: Preliminary Results for the Year Ended 30 June 2026
PRELIMINARY RESULTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2026
Slide 2: Cautionary Statement
CAUTIONARY STATEMENT This presentation contains certain statements that number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions and constitute a recommendation regarding the shares are neither reported financial results nor other actual results or events may differ materially from of the Company or any invit
Slide 3: Agenda
AGENDA 1 INTRODUCING HAYS’ MOMENTUM STRATEGY 2 OPERATIONAL & FINANCIAL REVIEW 3 CURRENT TRADING 4 CLOSING COMMENTS 5 Q&A 3
Slide 4: Hays
HAYS
Slide 5: Four Key Messages
FOUR KEY MESSAGES Focused Consultants Superior Momentum is specialist remain key to returns for a growth recruitment best hiring shareholders strategy business outcomes over time Increase consultant net fee productivity by >50%, return to a 25%+ conversion rate, & deliver superior returns to shareho
Slide 6: Clients Use Hays to Access the Best Talent
CLIENTS USE HAYS TO ACCESS THE BEST TALENT Premium on speed; Talent • 68% when we respond within 24 hours Solutions & Resourcing • 50% when we respond within 48 hours Services • Success doubles at 1 day vs 1 week . Reducing cost of failure For specialist roles, the cost of For specialist temps, cont
Slide 7: Clear and Encouraging Feedback from Our Clients
CLEAR AND ENCOURAGING FEEDBACK FROM OUR CLIENTS Perm anent recruitment Temporary & Contracting MSP Quality of candidates 80 Quality of candidates 65 Quality of candidates 55 Specialism expertise 60 Time -to-hire 59 Price 43 Price 34 Specialism expertise 40 Compliance 41 Temporary Track record 33 Pri
Slide 8: What Clients Mean by Candidate Quality Is Evolving
WHAT CLIENTS MEAN BY CANDIDATE QUALITY IS EVOLVING Interpersonal skills will be increasingly important for Managers & Directors - the sweet spot of our business 8 8
Slide 9: Creating a Self-Reinforcing Flywheel Effect to Drive Productivity
CREATING A SELF - REINFORCING “FLYWHEEL” EFFECT TO DRIVE PRODUCTIVITY Invest in training and skills Higher Higher share candidate of wallet Stronger client Higher net fee loyalty advisory per Consultant Higher client satisfaction Stronger and loyalty specialist brand Hays Clients Consultants Candida
Slide 10: Momentum's Five Forces Amplify the Flywheel
MOMENTUM’S FIVE FORCES AMPLIFY THE FLYWHEEL 10 10
Slide 11: Grow to Specialism Leadership; Sharper Focus
GROW TO SPECIALISM LEADERSHIP; SHARPER FOCUS We have already taken important action to sharpen our focus in FY26 11 11
Slide 12: Grow to Specialism Leadership; Better Economics
GROW TO SPECIALISM LEADERSHIP; BETTER ECONOMICS Average industry conversion rate (last reported year ) Global Specialisms Technology Finance Construction & Property Engineering HR Life Sciences Local Specialisms Office Support Resources & Mining Education Specialists with a top two market share, del
Slide 13: Experts in All We Do; Products and Compliance
EXPERTS IN ALL WE DO; PRODUCTS AND COMPLIANCE We are experts in specialist recruitment across a wide range of products 13 13
Slide 14: Unbeatable Matching; The Best Candidates Faster
UNBEATABLE MATCHING; THE BEST CANDIDATES FASTER Clear Technical understanding skills & of role/project Problem solving qualifications & critical thinking requirements AI- powered Going beyond the search & match job description to understand the Experience AI-powered matching Motivation & true comple
Slide 15: Powering Productivity; Technology and People
POWERING PRODUCTIVITY; TECHNOLOGY AND PEOPLE Hays proprietary technology The Hays Academy • OneTouch CRM system • Global centre for learning, performance, reward and career development • Global client and candidate databases • Combines on -boarding, capability building, leadership • Vendor Managemen
Slide 16: Delivering for Our Shareholders
DELIVERING FOR OUR SHAREHOLDERS Our medium term ambitions Net Fees Operating Conversion Rate Consultant Net Profit Fee Productivity >£1BN Material 25%+ 50%+ Improvement Delivering superior returns for shareholders 16 16
Slide 17: Operational & Financial Review
2. OPERATIONAL & FINANCIAL REVIEW
Slide 18: Operating Profit Up 3%, Cash Generation Remains Strong
‡ OPERATING PROFIT UP 3%, CASH GENERATION REMAINS STRONG ‡ ‡ Net fees Operating profit Cash from Operations 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 FY25 £45.6m FY25 £128.3m FY26 £905.5m FY26 £48.6m FY26 £
Slide 19: EPS Down 8%, Driven by Higher Effective Tax Rate
EPS ‡ DOWN 8%. DRIVEN BY HIGHER EFFECTIVE TAX RATE, PARTIALLY Basic EPS‡ (p) OFFSET BY HIGHER OPERATING PROFIT FY24 4.03 FY25 1.31 FY26 1.21 Exchange rate movements increased net fees and operating profit by £14.9m and £2.1m respectively ‡Operating profit, profit before tax, profit after tax and EPS
Slide 20: Germany Financial Overview
OUR ACTIONS DROVE SEQUENTIALLY STABLE PROFITABILITY IN THE SECOND HALF Germany – Financial overview Actual LFL FY26 share Year to 30 June 2026 2025 Net fees down 9% ; operating profit ‡ down 24% growth growth of Group £ Net fees £289.5m £308.9m (6)% (9)% 32% Key actions • Year end consultant headcou
Slide 21: UK & Ireland Financial Overview
FURTHER IMPROVEMENTS IN CONSULTANT PRODUCTIVITY & STRUCTURAL COSTS UK & Ireland (UK&I) – Financial overview Actual LFL FY26 share Net fees down 10% ; operating profit ‡ up 169% Year to 30 June 2026 2025 growth growth of Group £ Net fees £174.0m £192.2m (9)% (10)% 19% Key actions • Year end consultan
Slide 22: Australia & New Zealand Financial Overview
FOCUS ON HIGH SKILLED ROLES & COST LEADS TO IMPROVED PROFIT PERFORMANCE Australia & New Zealand (ANZ) – Financial overview Actual LFL FY26 share Net fees down 3% ; operating profit ‡ up 130% Year to 30 June 2026 2025 growth growth of Group £ Net fees £113.0m £116.2m (3)% (3)% 13% Key actions • Year
Slide 23: Rest of World Financial Overview
OUR ACTIONS HAVE DRIVEN A RETURN TO PROFITABILITY IN THE SECOND HALF Rest of World ( RoW ) – Financial overview Actual LFL FY26 share Net fees down 6% ; operating loss ‡ increased by 11 % Year to 30 June 2026 2025 growth growth of Group Key actions £ Net fees £329.0m £355.1m (7)% (6)% 36% • Disposed
Slide 24: Net Fee Decline Driven by Lower Volumes
Drivers of net fees (£m) NET FEE DECLINE DRIVEN BY LOWER VOLUMES, TEMP & CONTRACTING MORE RESILIENT THAN PERM 14.9 (5.8) 8.4 (8.2) (17.5) 972.4 955.8 (58.7) 905.5 FY25 Country closures FX Germany temp Temp Average perm fee Perm FY26 fees hours volume volume fees Permanent net fees* Temp & Contractin
Slide 25: Like-for-Like Operating Profit Grew by 3%
LIKE - FOR - LIKE OPERATING PROFIT GREW BY 3% FY26 operating profit ‡ bridge (£m) Payroll • Consultant headcount reduced by 12% • Non -consultant headcount reduced by 13% • Commission and bonuses down £6.0m in line with net fee decline • Average pay increase of 2.5% from 1 July 2025 Other overhead c
Slide 26: c.£50m Structural Cost Savings Secured in FY26
c.£50M PER ANNUM STRUCTURAL COST SAVINGS SECURED IN FY26, THREE YEARS AHEAD OF SCHEDULE. FURTHER c.£50M TARGETED FOR FY27 Annualised cost reductions delivered in FY26 (£m) • Including our global Finance and Technology Back - office Transformation programmes Structural • Restructured back -office fun
Slide 27: Consultant Productivity Up 7%
CONSULTANT PRODUCTIVITY UP 7%, GROWTH FOR ELEVEN CONSECUTIVE QUARTERS, WHILE SECURING STRUCTURAL COST SAVINGS Consultant net fee productivity FY24 - FY26 (£ per period) • Consultant net fee productivity increased by 7% • On a seasonally adjusted basis, productivity has increased for a sector leading
Slide 28: Exceptional Cost of £89.6 Million in FY26
EXCEPTIONAL COST OF £89.6 MILLION IN FY26 Year ended 30 June 2026 (£m) Operating Profit Profit Net fees Tax EPS (p) profit before tax after tax FY26 Pre - exceptional 905.5 48.6 35.1 (15.8) 19.3 1.21 Operational restructuring - (45.1) (45.1) 7.9 (37.2) (2.33) Property portfolio rationalisation - (26
Slide 29: Higher Effective Tax Rate
HIGHER EFFECTIVE TAX RATE ‡ DRIVEN BY CONCENTRATION OF PROFITS IN COUNTRIES WITH HIGHER TAX RATES AND TAX LOSSES Finance charge and taxation Year ended 30 June 2026 2025 Finance charge £m £m IFRS 16 interest on lease liabilities (non -cash) (4.9) (4.6) Net interest charge on debt* (8.2) (7.3) IAS 19
Slide 30: Strong Cash Performance, 189% Cash Conversion
STRONG CASH PERFORMANCE, WITH 189% CASH CONVERSION Cash from operations* (£m) FY24 112.3 FY25 128.3 FY26 92.0 Operating profit ‡ to free cash flow bridge (FY26, £m) Uses of cash flow (FY26) 189% cash conversion (FY25: 281%) 24.9 Capex £24.1m 62.3 Purchase of own shares £11.7m (43.8) (19.8) (8.
Slide 31: One Debtor Day Improvement; Minimal Bad Debt Write-offs
ONE DEBTOR DAY IMPROVEMENT; MINIMAL BAD DEBT WRITE -OFFS Debtor days (Days Sales Outstanding) Cash position overview Closing net cash (£m) NET CASH POSITION 37 £20.1m year end net cash 296.2 36 36 DEBTOR DAYS Improved to 36 days. Group bad debt write - offs were minimal and are at historically low l
Slide 32: A Strong Balance Sheet
A STRONG BALANCE SHEET Balance sheet analysis 30 Jun 30 Jun £m 2026 2025 NET WORKING CAPITAL Goodwill & intangibles 234.3 227.8 Strong working capital management, with debtor days improving to 36 days Property, plant & equipment 18.1 21.6 Right -of-use assets (IFRS 16) 130.7 166.6 Net deferred tax a
Slide 33: Maintaining Our Capital Allocation Framework and Dividend Policy
MAINTAINING OUR CAPITAL ALLOCATION FRAMEWORK AND DIVIDEND POLICY FY26 Dividend Free cash flow priorities and capital allocation • Invest in consultant headcount, technology Fund Group investments and working capital requirements as • Final dividend of 0.29p investment and Temporary & Contracting act
Slide 34: Financial Summary
FINANCIAL SUMMARY Dividend and capital Fees Profits Cash & balance sheet allocation Net fees down 8% to £905.5m Operating profit ‡ up 3% to Strong cash generation Final dividend of 0.29p bringing £48.6m the total dividend to 0.44p • Group net fee decline eased to 8% • Slightly exceeding guidance • C
Slide 35: Current Trading
3. CURRENT TRADING
Slide 36: Current Trading Has Been In-Line with Our Expectations
CURRENT TRADING HAS BEEN IN -LINE WITH OUR EXPECTATIONS • Current trading in July and August has been in line with our expectations with no significant change to activity levels from Q4. September is the key trading month in our first quarter, and it is too early to assess trends • We believe our Gr
Slide 37: Closing Comments
4. CLOSING COMMENTS
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Slide 39: Appendix 1: FY26 Results Supporting Materials
APPENDIX 1 FY26 Results supporting materials
Slide 40: A Balanced Portfolio
A BALANCED PORTFOLIO A balanced portfolio | FY26 net fees by category £905.5m By division By placement By contract form NA 3 @ Gamany @ Temporary @ Fuloutsourced @ Kai & Contracting @ Preferred Supplier List ANZ Permanent recnutment Matipl Row I Songle placements Our divisional exposure in detail |
Slide 41: Like-for-Like Summary
L IKE - FOR - LIKE SUMMARY 2025 2025 Closures FX impact Organic 2026 LFL* Year ended 30 June 2026 Restated £m £m £m £m £m growth Net fees Germany 308.9 - 308.9 10.5 (29.9) 289.5 (9)% United Kingdom & Ireland 192.2 - 192.2 0.3 (18.5) 174.0 (10)% Australia & New Zealand 116.2 - 116.2 0.7 (3.9) 113.0 (
Slide 42: Growth Analysis and Conversion Rate by Division
GROWTH ANALYSIS AND CONVERSION RATE BY DIVISION Net fee growth* FY24 Q1 25 Q2 25 H1 25 Q3 25 Q4 25 H2 25 FY25 Q1 26 Q2 26 H1 26 Q3 26 Q4 26 H2 26 FY26 versus same period last year Germany (7)% (13)% (13)% (13)% (9)% (5)% (7)% (10)% (7)% (14)% (11)% (11)% (7)% (8)% (9)% United Kingdom & Ireland (15)%
Slide 43: Rest of World: FY26 Performance by Country
REST OF WORLD – FY26 PERFORMANCE BY COUNTRY Net fee No. of Consultant Rest of World net fees Country/Region Net fees (£m) growth* offices headcount France 51.0 (19)% 17 307 USA 43.3 (6)% 7 204 Spain 30.3 16% 6 274 France Disposals/Under Switzerland 28.5 (14)% 3 97 strategic review Canada 18.8 (10)%
Slide 44: 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 2026 Dec 2025 Dec 2025 Jun 2025 Jun 2025 Jun 2026 June 2025 Jun 2025 Germany 1,368 1,543 (11)% 1,624 (16)% 25 26 (1) U
Slide 45: 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 42 996 972 197 955 918 906 27 40 458 66 36 339 368 417 69 135 396 63 291 340 188 52 32 312 355 199 199 196 140 3
Slide 46: 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 (FY26) £ Historical headline net fees (£m) £ Historical headline operating profit‡ (£m) 382 6% 352 9% 314 100 300 309 290 91 4% 276 86 36% 260 81
Slide 47: UK & Ireland Profile: 19% of Group Net Fees
UK & IRELAND PROFILE – 19% OF GROUP NET FEES Snapshot - #1 market position* - Diverse sector exposure - Nationwide coverage Net fees by specialism (FY26) £ Historical headline net fees (£m) £ Historical headline operating profit‡ (£m) 52 47 49 272 272 266 46 253 258 264 263 42 43 20% 242 246 32% 225
Slide 48: Australia & New Zealand Profile: 13% of Group Net Fees
AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND PROFILE – 13% OF GROUP NET FEES, Snapshot WITH AUSTRALIA REPRESENTING 95% OF DIVISIONAL NET FEES - #1 market position* - Diverse sector experience - Geographical diversification Net fees by specialism (FY26) £ Historical headline net fees (£m) £ Historical headline operating
Slide 49: Rest of World Profile: 36% of Group Net Fees
REST OF WORLD PROFILE – 36% OF GROUP NET FEES, Snapshot WITH FRANCE OUR LARGEST RoW MARKET - Structural growth opportunities - Diverse sector exposure - Geographical diversification Net fees by specialism (FY26) £ Historical headline net fees (£m) £ Historical headline operating profit‡ (£m) 458 42
Slide 50: 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) 347 359 359 323 337 134 321 293 305 120 120 288 116 274 263 273 268 106 245 232 98 95 224 90 91 80 83 72 58 22 17
Slide 51: Financial Archive: Quarterly Net Fee Growth
FINANCIAL ARCHIVE QUARTERLY NET FEE GROWTH % Germany % UK & Ireland 38% 39% 37% 48% 32% 29% 45% 26% 22% 23% 33% 29% 11% 22% 7% 0% 11% (5%) (7%) 4% (13%) (17%) (13%)(13%) (14%)(11%) (2%) (5%) (7%) (7%) (11%) (9%) (9%) (9%) (14%) (13%) (13%) (17%) (16%) (17%) (20%)(14%) (20%) (20%) (31%) (34%) Q1 Q2 Q
Slide 52: 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% 4% 0% (2%) (5%) (5%) (5%) (8%) (6%) (3%) (7%) (12%) (15%) (14%) (13%) (12%) (18%) (20%) (7%) (7%) (6%) (26%) (9%) (10%) (13%) (14%) (14%) (13%) (12%) (1
Slide 53: Appendix 2: Our Markets & Strategy
APPENDIX 2 Our markets & strategy
Slide 54: A c.£160 Billion Global Recruitment Market in 2025
A C.£160 BILLION GLOBAL RECRUITMENT MARKET IN 2025 • Managed Service Provision and • Our portfolio of 16 countries Recruitment Process Outsourcing accounted for c.2/3 of the global added a further c.£11 billion market in 2025 (c.£100bn) • The global market for Permanent • Our six core specialisms pl
Slide 55: The Five Eras of Hays
THE FIVE ERAS OF HAYS We are entering the fifth er Refocus to 1986-2000 £ 1019 Business Services Specialist Global Specialist Recruitment Scale- Platform up Global scale inc US Pure Specialist acquisition Recruitment and HR Specialist expertise Services Technology-enabled platform Expansion internat
Slide 56: Delivering Our Momentum Strategy
DELIVERING OUR MOMENTUM STRATEGY 56
Slide 57: Countries Will Offer Those Specialisms Where They Have a Clear Path to Leadership
COUNTRIES WILL OFFER THOSE SPECIALISMS WHERE THEY HAVE A CLEAR P ATH TO LEADERSHIP; NOT ALL COUNTRIES WILL OFFER ALL TARGET SPECIALISMS Global Target Specialisms Local Specialisms Engineering Resources Education Business Sciences & Mining Support Finance Cluster Country Tech C&P Life HR Germany DACH
Slide 58: Significant Mix Shift Towards More Resilient, Structural Growth Specialisms
SIGNIFICANT MIX SHIFT TOWARDS MORE RESILIENT, STRUCTURAL GROWTH SPECIALISMS OVER LAST 18 YEARS Note: FY08 - FY10 Engineering net fees are estimated and were originally reported within C&P. • Our six global specialisms contributed 76% of Group net fees in FY26, we are not static and instead allocate
Slide 59: Most of Our Operating Profit Is Generated by Just a Few Countries
MOST OF OUR OPERATING PROFIT IS GENERATED BY JUST A FEW COUNTRIES Note: Operating profit is presented including allocation of central costs. 59
Slide 60: Hays Digitised Will Transform Our Digital Platforms and Tools
HAYS DIGITISED WILL TRANSFORM OUR DIGITAL PLATFORMS AND TOOLS TO STREAMLINE OUR WORK AND GAIN IN EFFICIENCY Hays Digital Platform Better equipped Deeper in our clients’ A career home for – seamless for colleagues world every specialist clients, efficient for Hays • One of the first in • Client VMS a
Slide 61: A New Hays Academy Will Build Skills, Careers and Coach for Performance
A NEW HAYS ACADEMY WILL BUILD SKILLS, CAREERS AND COACH FOR PERFORMANCE, CREATING HIGHLY PRODUCTIVE AND WELL REWARDED COLLEA GUES Structured entry points & pathways Consultative selling From Graduate programmes to career changers Best practice selling approach and negotiation Technical, functional &
Slide 62: Momentum: Delivered the Hays Way
MOMENTUM: DELIVERED THE HAYS WAY The Hays Way Learned at the Hays Academy Underpinned by the Valued Behaviours Obsessed with global efficiency Built on a framework of Trust and Integrity 62
Slide 63: Our Surplus Capital Allocation History
OUR SURPLUS CAPITAL ALLOCATION HISTORY • Return surplus cash to shareholders Core • Maintain a dividend that is affordable and through an appropriate combination appropriate Excess cash dividend of special dividends and share • Target core dividend cover of 2 -3x EPS returns policy buybacks, subject
Slide 64: Further Information
FURTHER INFORMATION Kean Marden Head of Investor Relations & M&A Prash Gangatharan Investor Relations Manager ir@hays.com +44 (0)333 010 7092 For more information about the Group: haysplc.com/investors