Adecco (ADEN:VTX), the  largest staffing firm in the world, saw revenues in Q3 2016 of €5.8 billion, up 3% organically compared to €5.7 million for the same period last year. Gross profit totaled €1.1 billion, up 1% on an organic basis.

Adecco Q3 2016 revenues of €5.8 million were up 2% year-on-year on a reported basis. Acquisitions added approximately 1% to revenues, while currency fluctuations had a negative impact of approximately 2%. Organically, revenues increased by 3%, or by 3.5% adjusted for trading days. By business line, revenues grew organically by 3% in General Staffing and by 4% in Professional Staffing. Permanent placement revenues totalled  €117 million, up 5% organically. Revenues from career transition totalled €92 million, up 8% organically compared to the prior year.

Alain Dehaze, CEO of the Adecco Group commented: “Thanks to the engagement of our colleagues and associates, the Adecco Group delivered another good performance in Q3 2016. We maintained our revenue momentum, with organic growth of 3% in the quarter and 4% in September. Our cost discipline continued and we improved underlying productivity. “

“While delivering these results, we made further progress in deploying our strategic priorities,” Dehaze said. “We are strengthening our competitive position, working with leading partners to streamline our processes and upgrade our customer-facing and back office IT. We are also acting on areas of underperformance, improving the performance of businesses currently operating below their potential, and exiting those that structurally cannot achieve our goals. “

The company also announced the acquisition of D4, LLC in October.

Revenue by country was as follows.

In France, revenue increased by 3% in General Staffing, which accounts for over 90% of revenues, and grew by 14% in Professional Staffing. Permanent placement revenues in France were up 22%. The company also recently launched an Analytics Division in France.In the UK & Ireland, approximately two-thirds of revenues come from Professional Staffing, which grew at 2%. Revenues grew by 5% in IT, partially offset by a 12% decline in Finance & Legal. In General Staffing, revenues increased by 7%. Permanent placement revenues in the UK & Ireland were down 3%.

In Germany & Austria, revenues were down 2%, driven by a decline in automotive. In Switzerland, revenues declined by 3%, negatively impacted by reductions in the export-related and medical sectors.

In Benelux and Nordics, revenues were €487 million, an increase of 2%. In the Nordics, revenues were up 8% with good growth in all countries. Revenues in Benelux were down 2%. The company outperformed the market in Belgium with broad-based growth, while in the Netherlands, the company’s price discipline negatively impacted growth in a competitive market.

In Italy, EBITA margin was 8.3%, driven by continued strong growth in permanent placement and helped by the continued positive effect of regulation changes in 2015.

In Japan, revenues increased by 2% to €334 million, with continued strong growth in professional staffing and permanent placement.

In Iberia, revenues were €256 million, up 8%. The EBITA margin was down 80 bps year-on-year to 3.4%, which includes a negative impact of approximately 100 bps from reorganisation costs.

In North America, General Staffing, which accounts for approximately half of revenues, and declined by 1%. Revenues declined by 3% in Industrial and increased by 2% in Office. In Professional Staffing, revenues were flat, with growth of 16% in Medical & Science and 3% in Finance & Legal, and declines of 4% in both IT and Engineering & Technical. Permanent placement revenues in North America were flat.

In Rest of World, revenues grew by 10% to €678 million. Revenue growth was 9% in Australia & New Zealand, 9% in Latin America, 10% in Eastern Europe & MENA, 7% in Asia, and 20% in India.

During the quarter, the company divested its activities in Russia, Ukraine, and Venezuela. In China, Adecco launched with FESCO and Ant Financial Services an online HR services portal for small- and medium-sized companies.

In Lee Hecht Harrison, revenues increased by 14% in constant currency following the acquisition of Penna in May 2016. Organically revenues were up 5%, with growth in the USA and the UK offset by declines in France and Canada.

Looking forward, Adecco states that its growth rate in September was 4% and in October, volume growth was similar to September and despite this modest improvement in growth, the global economic outlook remains uncertain. Adecco says it will adapt to any changes in market conditions, maintaining price discipline and tight cost control. The group’s financial targets, to be achieved on average across an entire economic cycle, including periods of economic expansion and recession, are: growing revenues organically at least in line with their main peers, at group level and in each major market; improving their EBITA margin to 4.5–5.0% on average through-the-cycle; and delivering an operating cash flow conversion of more than 90% on average through-the-cycle.

In trading today, Adecco Group AG traded at CHF 58.45 (€54.16), up 1.3% on the day and 17.73% below its 52-week high of CHF 71.05 (€65.83), set on 1 December 2015. Based on its current share price the company has a market value of CHF 9.85 billion (€9.1 billion).