q2 2017: europe gaining further momentum.

Highlights

• Revenue of € 5,866 million; organic growth +9.3%; gross profit up 7.9%
• Topline grew 11% in Europe, 1% in North America and 12% in Rest of the world
• Gross margin 20.4%; underlying gross margin stable YoY; perm fees up 7%
• Organic opex up 5% (Q1 2017: 7%); ICR improving sequentially, adjusted for working days
• Underlying EBITA of € 262 million; EBITA margin 4.5% (including -/- 50bp digital investments and working day impact)
• Leverage ratio of 1.5 (vs. 0.7 last year) impacted by seasonality and M&A
• Digital initiatives in full swing; Capital Markets Day in London on November 21, 2017
• Volumes in early July indicate a continuation of the Q2 trend
• All acquisitions on track; key initiatives launched at Monster

"In Q2, our organic sales growth accelerated to the highest level since 2011, driven by double-digit growth in Europe," says Randstad CEO Jacques van den Broek. "Also momentum in the Rest of the world region improved versus Q1, while growth in our North American business was stable. We are satisfied with the progress of our acquisitions and remain very excited about their future contribution to the Group. Supporting people and organizations in realizing their true potential is Randstad's role in society. We are committed to go above and beyond to make our candidates and clients successful. To this end we are working hard on our digital transformation. This is showing the first good signs in margin development in our Dutch Professionals business as technology supports our consultants, as well as in our French perm business, by providing additional services through better insights based on big data."

Attachments

Q2 results 2017.pdf