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Adecco lowers operating margin target but US growth stable

January 19, 2016

Adecco Group lowered its operating margin target for 2016 through 2020 at its Investor Day held in Zurich on Monday.

Adecco said it aims to generate an average margin on EBITA of 4.5% to 5.0% through the cycle, excluding one-offs. This number is down from 5.2% achieved in 2015 and lower than the company’s previous margin target of 5.5%.

The world’s largest staffing firm also announced organic revenue rose 5%, adjusted for trading days, in the first two months of the fourth quarter of 2015, with a similar trend in December. This compares with 4% organic revenue growth in the third quarter. The slight uptick spread across many regions in Europe, most notably France.

Growth in North America remained stable. The company reported North America is “a multi-speed market, with notable strength and weakness,” and it expects a continuation of modest revenue growth for the overall North America market.

Adecco Group’s updated strategic priorities through 2020 are:

  • Segmentation
  • Permanent placement
  • Professional staffing and solutions
  • Digital
  • Engagement
  • Thought leadership

“During an intensive first 100 days in my new role, we have put in place our updated strategy and a very strong executive team,” said Adecco Group CEO Alain Dehaze. “The group’s focus now is to implement the strategic priorities across the organization and improve our revenue growth relative to our peers. We remain committed to our cost leadership and we have launched a new initiative to drive productivity.”