Randstad reveals Q2 profit leap despite sales fall

Dutch temporary employment agency Randstad revealed a 73.0-percent leap in second-quarter net profit today, despite a fall of sales.
The group said that the profit surge took the net figure to USD 83.1 million on the back of tighter operating performance.
The Amsterdam-based group posted a 5.0-percent quarterly drop in income on a 12-month comparison to 4.095 billion euros.
It blamed this on the timing of public holidays and so-called "bridging days" in April and May, leading to a loss of 3.7 percent revenue per working day.
However Randstad's "efficiency continued to improve in the second quarter," chief executive Ben Noteboom said in a statement.

"We are confident that we will be able to maintain our discipline and we are ready to grasp commercial opportunities that may present themselves," he added.

One of Europe's leading human resources companies, Randstad warned it needed "modest economic growth, most notably in Europe, to be able to meet our strategic targets."
But it remained optimistic about markets in North America "where our profitability continues to expand, while we are growing our footprint in emerging markets such as China, India and Latin America."
Employing around 30,000 people in 39 countries, Randstad generated 17.1 billion euros in revenue last year.