Third-quarter revenue at Randstad Holding NV rose 4% on an organic basis with growth in North America up 1%. Organic change excludes the impact of currency, acquisitions and divestitures and adjusts for working days.

Growth in the US remained broadly stable, with Canada growing 5% on an organic basis amid a challenging market. In Randstad’s second-largest market, the Netherlands, revenue rose 2% organically.

Randstad is in the process of acquiring Monster Worldwide Inc. (NYSE: MWW) for an enterprise value of approximately $429 million. The tender offer period will expire on Oct. 28, unless further extended. The deal has faced opposition from shareholder MediaNews Group Inc.

“We have made a pretty good offer and we have the agreement of the board of Monster,” Randstad CFO Robert Jan van de Kraats told Reuters following the release of its earnings results, adding that Randstad would “ultimately” not accept owning Monster while MediaNews remains a large minority shareholder. “But we think if we get 50.1% of the shares, that will bring us eventually to owning 100% of the shares,” he said.

Monster also responded to increased efforts by MediaNews to remove Monster’s board and stop the Randstad deal.

Randstad has also made a number of other recent investments including Italian staffing firm Obiettivo Lavoro Group in July and Tokyo-based staffing firm Careo Holdings Ltd. In addition, Randstad announced plans in June to acquire France-based consulting and engineering firm Ausy, an international consulting and engineering firm. The regulatory approvals have been obtained and Randstad France will offer €55 per share to Ausy shareholders. In addition, Randstad reported it invested in HackerRank, a developer community and assessment platform that had also received an investment from Recruit Co. Ltd.

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“In Q3, growth trends were resilient across all regions, which appears to be continuing into October,” said CEO Jacques van den Broek. “I am happy with the solid performance across our countries, while this year we welcomed more than 1,300 new colleagues in Scandinavia, Italy, Japan and Germany. We look forward to harnessing the full potential of our corporate development. I wish my colleagues all the success in this process.”

Revenue by geography

Growth rates below are organic:

North America

• Revenue rose 1% and perm fees were flat. The company’s combined US businesses were flat, with US staffing/inhouse growing by 2%. US professionals was down 3%. In Canada, revenue increased 5%.

Netherlands

• Revenue rose 2% and overall perm fee growth improved to 26%. The group’s staffing and inhouse businesses grew 3% and its professionals business declined 4%.

France

• Revenue rose 5%. Staffing and inhouse revenue increased 4% and professionals business was up 11%, driven by healthcare. Perm fees were up 31%.

Germany

• Revenue rose 5%. Combined staffing and inhouse business was up 4%, while professionals increased by 8%.

Belgium and Luxembourg

• Revenue per working day was up 5%. Staffing/inhouse business increased 5%, while the professionals business was up 11%.

Iberia

• Revenue rose 6%. Spain was up 6% with staffing/inhouse combined growing 6%, while professionals increased 1%. In Portugal, revenue increased 7%.

United Kingdom

• Revenue rose 1%. Overall perm declined 4% year over year.

Other European countries

• Across “other European countries,” revenue per working day rose 10%. This was supported by growth in Italy, which was up 15%. In Poland, revenue rose 9%. Revenue in the group’s Swiss business was up 12%. In the Nordics, revenue fell 11%, but on a pro-forma basis (including Proffice) it was down 4%.

Rest of the world

• Overall revenue in the “rest of world” region showed stable growth, up 8%. In Japan, revenue grew by 5%, in line with the previous quarter. Revenue in Australia/New Zealand grew by 8%, and China was up 3%. Randstad’s business in India was flat while Latin America grew by 22%, driven by Argentina and Brazil (Olympics).

Revenue by business line

Share price and market cap

Shares in Randstad rose 1.49% to €47.01 (US$52.75). The company had a market cap of €8.61billion (US$9.66 billion), according to Google.