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View All NewsAdecco revenue falls 2% on organic basis, North America growth slows
Revenue at The Adecco Group fell 2% year over year on an organic basis in the first quarter. The Switzerland-based company, which ranks as the world’s largest staffing provider, reported that growth trends in Europe stabilized while North America revenue growth slowed.
| (€millions) | Q1 2019 | Q1 2018 | % change | % organic change | % organic, business days adjusted | Q1 2019 (US$millions) |
| Revenue | € 5,645 | € 5,692 | -1% | -2% | -2% | $6,331 |
| Gross profit | € 1,080 | € 1,033 | 5% | 0% | - | $1,211 |
| Gross margin | 19.1% | 18.1% | - | - | - | - |
| Net income | € 133 | € 130 | 2% | - | - | $149 |
In North America, professional revenue fell 5% on an organic basis adjusted for business days. Adecco reported growth in its medical and science segment was offset by declines in IT, finance and legal, and engineering and technical. The company noted a large number of client projects in its legal segment ended in the first quarter.
General staffing in North America rose 2% in the first quarter on an organic basis adjusted for business days.
First-quarter revenue in Japan rose 8% organically and adjusted for business days, and the company posted 4% growth in its rest-of-the-world segment
Revenue by geography
| (€millions) | Q1 2019 | Q1 2018 | % change | % organic change | % organic, business days adjusted | Q1 2019 (US$millions) |
| France | € 1,283 | € 1,315 | -2% | 1% | -1% | $1,439 |
| North America, UK & Ireland General Staffing | € 714 | € 677 | 6% | 1% | 2% | $801 |
| North America, UK & Ireland Professional Staffing | € 846 | € 856 | -1% | -6% | -5% | $949 |
| Germany, Austria, Switzerland | € 482 | € 525 | -8% | -9% | -10% | $541 |
| Benelux and Nordics | € 466 | € 511 | -9% | -7% | -6% | $523 |
| Italy | € 457 | € 477 | -4% | -4% | -4% | $513 |
| Japan | € 343 | € 301 | 14% | 6% | 8% | $385 |
| Iberia | € 264 | € 273 | -3% | -3% | -4% | $296 |
| Rest of World | € 661 | € 657 | 1% | 4% | 4% | $741 |
| Career Transition & Talent Development | € 129 | € 100 | 29% | 0% | 0% | $145 |
Business process outsourcing revenue rose 16% in constant currency during the first quarter. The category includes the company’s MSP and RPO business lines. Revenue rose 25% in constant currency in the company’s “career transition and talent development” category, which includes outplacement services.
Revenue by business line
| (€millions) | Q1 2019 | Q1 2018 | % change | % constant currency | Q1 2019 (US$millions) |
| Office | € 1,440 | € 1,305 | 10% | 9% | $1,615 |
| Industrial | € 2,758 | € 2,996 | -8% | -8% | $3,093 |
| Information Technology | € 714 | € 706 | 1% | -1% | $801 |
| Engineering & Technical | € 176 | € 169 | 4% | 1% | $197 |
| Finance & Legal | € 239 | € 244 | -2% | -6% | $268 |
| Medical & Science | € 146 | € 136 | 7% | 3% | $164 |
| Career Transition & Talent Development | € 129 | € 100 | 29% | 25% | $145 |
| BPO | € 43 | € 36 | 21% | 16% | $48 |
Quote
“While revenues declined by 2% trading days adjusted, year-on-year, the trend in our European markets stabilized during the quarter and the exit rate for the group was in-line with Q1,” CEO Alain Dehaze said. “We also delivered accelerating growth in the Japan and Rest of World region, which helped offset the slowdown in North America.”
Share price and market cap
Shares in The Adecco Group were up 0.59% to 58.04 Swiss francs as of 11:17 a.m. Eastern time; the company had a market cap of 9.62 billion Swiss francs, according to FT.com.