Randstad (RAND: NV), today reported revenue for the fourth quarter ending 31 December 2018 of €6.1 billion, a marginal increase of 0.3% on an organic basis compared with €5.9 billion a year ago.

Growth in Rest of World and North America remained strong, however the group reported slowing activity in its European markets.

Net income was down 2% in the fourth quarter. Randstad said net income was dragged down by impairments of €103 million related to Monster, of which €33 million was restructuring cost, as revenue did not recover in line with initial projections.

Gross profit amounted to €1.20 billion with organic growth down 1.5%.

Underlying EBITA increased organically by 1% to € 309 million. The EBITA margin reached 5.1%, stable compared to Q4 2017.

According to Reuters, the group’s fourth-quarter results were actually slightly ahead of analyst forecasts, who had already factored slowing European markets into their forecasts. Revenue was in line with forecasts. The financial results for the fourth quarter were broken down as follows:

"Our revenue was stable organically year-on year in Q4, reflecting robust sales growth in North America and Rest of the world, but slowing activity in Europe in line with recent macro trends,” CEO Jacques van den Broek said.

Revenue by Geography was broken down as follows.

Permanent fees grew by 11%, with Europe up 7% and North America growing 15%. In the 'Rest of the World' region, permanent fee growth amounted to 17%. Permanent fees made up 9.8% of gross profit.

In North America, revenue for the group’s combined US businesses was up 3%. US Staffing/Inhouse Services grew by 5%. US Professionals revenue was flat. In Canada, revenue was up 1%.

In France, revenue growth was impacted by a general market slowdown and a strong focus on client profitability. Staffing/Inhouse Services revenue declined 7%. The group’s Professionals business was up 8%, driven by Ausy and healthcare.

In the Netherlands, Staffing and Inhouse Services businesses grew 1%, while the Professionals business was up 13%.

In Germany, revenue was negatively impacted by regulation changes and lower activity in the automotive sector. The combined Staffing and Inhouse Services business was down 12%, while Professionals was up 7%.

In Belgium, the Staffing/Inhouse Services business was flat.

Revenue in Italy was impacted by tough comparables and slowing macroeconomic activity.

Revenue in Iberia reflected increased macroeconomic uncertainty and tougher comparables. Staffing/Inhouse Services combined was down 5%. Revenue in Spain was down 3% while revenue in Portugal was down 9%.

In Other European markets, UK revenue was up by 5%, while in the Nordics, revenue was down 4%. Revenue in the Swiss business was up 6%.

In Japan, revenue grew 6%. Revenue in Australia/New Zealand grew 10%, while revenue in China grew by 31%. In India revenue was up 21%, while in Latin America revenue grew 25%, driven by Argentina and Brazil.

Meanwhile, Randstad Sourceright revenue increased by 8% following “significant new client wins”.  Rebecca Henderson, CEO of Randstad Sourceright has been nominated to join Randstad’s Executive Board subject to shareholder approval at the annual general meeting on 26 March.

Monster revenue was down sharply by 17%. It was reported separately that, last week, Monster cut approximately 5% of its global workforce, which translates to about 100 affected employees, as it tries to work toward profitable growth.In an interview with Reuters, CFO Henry Schirmer said, ““We definitely see in Germany, France a big impact from automotive. Manufacturing overall has come down and that’s the same in Spain and Italy. That’s stabilising now, at least in January.”

Schirmer added that the slide in major European markets seen late last year had stabilised at the beginning of 2019.

Revenue by business line was broken down as follows.

The group also published its full year results today with revenue up 4% organically to €23.8 billion.

“Our Tech & Touch strategy is in full progress,” van den Broek said. “In 2018, we successfully rolled out several digital concepts to other countries, which will fuel our growth in 2019. All our concepts are based on deep customer insights. We research the needs of our clients and candidates through our data led Customer Delight program. This global approach provides the foundation that will enable us to further improve the Human Forward experience for our clients and candidates.”

“Our financial position remains very healthy, reflected by the proposal of a cash dividend of €3.38 per ordinary share, including a special dividend of €1.11, a record high,” van den Broek continued. “I am very proud of all my colleagues and I would like to thank them and all our stakeholders for an excellent 2018.”

In its future outlook, Randstad stated that in January 2019, revenue increased at a similar pace to Q4 2018. The development of volumes in early February indicates a continuation of the January growth trend.

Q1 2019 gross margin is expected to be modestly lower sequentially. For Q1 2019, the company expects broadly stable operating expenses sequentially. There will be an adverse 0.8 working day impact in Q1 2019.

As of last trade, Randstad traded at €45.27, up 3.81% on the day and 24.33% above the 52 week low of €36.41 set on 3 January 2019. Based on its current share price the company has a market value of €7.99 billion.