The Adecco Group reported fourth-quarter revenue rose 1% year over year on an organic basis when adjusted for trading days. The Switzerland-based staffing giant said growth was led by its Modis division, where revenue rose 14%. In addition, the company announced that it completed the acquisition of a majority stake in Akka Technologies, a global engineering and consulting firm based in Brussels.

Adecco first revealed plans to acquire Akka last year. It is reportedly the largest deal in Adecco’s history.

“At the [global business unit] level, Modis delivered outstanding performance in 2021, with strong top-line growth and margin uplift, providing a strong foundation for the upcoming integration of Akka,” Adecco Group CEO Alain Dehaze said. “In LHH, recruitment solutions excelled, taking market share in permanent recruitment, while career transition navigated lower demand for their services.”

Adecco posted results for its three global business units: Adecco, LHH and Modis.

Revenue by global business unit

In the “Adecco” global business unit, revenue was flat year over year on an organic basis. However, the company noted permanent placement revenue rose more than 70%. The company also reported that temporary staffing activities saw strong growth in healthcare and robust demand in manufacturing while facing tough comparisons in logistics and continued headwinds in autos.

Revenue in the Adecco global business unit — which provides staffing across all sectors — was stable in the US, but year-over-year developments were hindered by lower activity in temporary staffing amid candidate scarcity for lower-wage, blue-collar roles.

The company also announced it appointed Eileen Sweeney as head of Adecco US.

Looking at Latin America, the company reported recent legislative changes in Mexico had a negative impact, though Latin American revenue was up in double digits excluding that country.

Here is revenue in the Adecco global business unit by geography:

Adecco revenue by geography

Turning to the company’s LHH global business unit — which covers professional recruitment, outplacement, MSP and other services — revenue rose 4% year over year on an organic basis when adjusted for trading days.

The company reported revenue at Pontoon rose 8% and was led by MSP and recruitment experience outsourcing. On the other hand, revenue at General Assembly fell 20%, with demand impacted by the spread of omicron.

At Adecco’s Modis global business unit — which includes technology staffing and engineering consulting — revenue rose 14% on an organic basis when adjusted for trading days.

Modis will be combined with Akka. The Adecco Group announced today that it acquired 59.9% of shares, bringing Adecco’s total holding in the company to 64.7%. The future global brand for both Modis and Akka will be Akkodis. Jan Gupta is president of the combined business unit; Dominique Cerutti will become senior advisor to Gupta while Nathalie Bühnemann, CFO at Akka, will be head of finance at the combined business unit.

Here is revenue for the full company by service line:

Revenue by service line

Full-year results

Guidance

The Adecco Group reported macro-economic indicators point to robust growth despite geopolitical uncertainty and continuing challenges related to the pandemic. The company expects solid year-over-year revenue growth in the first quarter.

“Looking ahead, while recognizing ongoing pandemic related challenges, we expect healthy demand for the group’s services in 2022, and are investing to accelerate sustainable, profitable growth,” Dehaze said.

Share price and market cap

Shares in Adecco closed down 5.43% to 43.33 Swiss francs (US$47.12) today in Switzerland; shares were 3.54% above their 52-week low, according to FT.com. The company had a market cap of 7.67 billion Swiss francs (US$8.34 billion).