Hays plc, the world’s sixth-largest staffing firm, announced gross profit, which Hays reports as net fees, rose 13% in its fiscal first quarter ended Sept. 30. The UK-based firm reported the increase was 10% on a “like-for-like” basis — when growth is measured organically and put in constant currency.

“Looking ahead, conditions remain good in the vast majority of our International markets,” Chief Executive Alistair Cox said. “In the UK, market conditions remain stable overall.”

Gross profit rose 13% on a like-for-like basis in the company’s “Continent Europe & Rest of World” region, which includes the US, Canada and Latin America as well as Europe. Results in this region were led by Germany, where gross profit rose 17% like-for-like. Growth rose 14% like-for-like in the rest of Continental Europe.

In the US, gross profit rose 9% on a like-for-like basis, but Canada posted a decrease of 3%. For all the Americas, including Latin America, gross profit rose by 3%.

In the UK and Ireland, gross profit rose 1% like-for-like. In Asia Pacific, gross profit rose 14% like-for-like; gross profit was up 15% in Australia alone. The company reported growth.

Shares in Hays closed up 0.40% at £190.76 (US$251.90); it had a market cap of £2.76 billion (US$3.64 billion), according to Google.