The Adecco Group today reported fourth-quarter revenue rose 7% on an organic basis — excluding the impact of currency, acquisitions and divestitures. The improvement was driven in particular by professional staffing in France, Italy and North America, UK & Ireland.

In North America, revenue fell 4% in general staffing on an organic basis. North America professional staffing revenue rose 2% organically; strong growth in engineering and technical, and finance and legal, was partly offset by a decline in IT.

Business process outsourcing revenue, or BPO, fell 30% on a constant currency basis. BPO includes the company's managed service provider and recruitment process outsourcing business lines.

The company also announced Shanthi Flynn, chief human resources officer for The Adecco Group, will leave the company for personal reasons by the end of April 2018. A successor has not yet been named.

Quote

“In 2017, we launched Adia and YOSS, both innovative digital solutions, co-created with leaders in technology,” said Group CEO Alain Dehaze. “And in early 2018, we announced the acquisition of Vettery, a digital professional recruitment platform, expanding our portfolio of digital services and adding valuable talent and technology to the Adecco Group.”

Revenue by geography

Detail by country

All of the following revenue changes are reported on an organic basis:

France

• Revenue rose 9%. Revenue increased by 10% in general staffing, and rose 2% in professional staffing. Revenue growth was broad based, with manufacturing, logistics, and automotive making the biggest contributions. Permanent placement revenue rose 21%.

North America, UK & Ireland general staffing

• Revenue rose 2%. However, North America general staffing revenue fell 4%. UK & Ireland general staffing revenue rose 17%, with continued strong growth in e-commerce and local government. Permanent placement revenue edged up 1% in North America general staffing and fell 6% in UK & Ireland.

North America, UK & Ireland professional staffing

• Revenue was down 1%. North America professional staffing revenue rose 2%. Strong growth in engineering and technical, and finance and legal, was partly offset by a decline in IT. UK & Ireland professional staffing revenue fell 5%, mainly due to a decline in IT. Permanent placement revenue rose 7% in North America professional staffing and fell 5% in UK & Ireland professional staffing.

Germany, Austria, Switzerland

• Revenue rose 2%. In Germany and Austria, revenue was flat. In Switzerland, revenue rose 9%.

Benelux and Nordics

• Revenue rose 10%. In the Nordics, revenue rose 8%, led by accelerating double-digit growth in Norway, while growth in Sweden was mid-single-digit. Revenue in Benelux rose 12%. Double-digit growth continued in the Netherlands while in Belgium growth was mid-single-digit.

Italy

• Revenue rose 26% with growth broad-based across service lines, including temporary staffing and permanent placement.

Japan

• Revenue rose 7%, with good growth in professional staffing and permanent placement.

Lee Hecht Harrison

• Revenue fell 8% at the career transition and talent development provider, reflecting the counter-cyclical nature of career transition. Declines in the US and UK were partly offset by good growth in Canada.

Revenue by business line

Full-year revenue

Share price and market cap

Shares in Adecco closed down 8.23% to 69.98 Swiss francs. The company had a market cap of 12.01 billion Swiss francs.