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View All NewsJapan – Persol first quarter revenue rises 5.1% with growth across the board
Persol (2181: JP), the Japanese staffing giant, reported revenue today for the first quarter ended 30 June 2020 of JPY 250.4 billion (USD 2.27 billion), an increase of 5.1% when compared to the previous year.
| (JPY millions) | Q1 2021 | Q1 2020 | Change | Q1 2021 (USD millions) |
| Revenue | 250,432 | 238,222 | 5.1% | 2,265.5 |
| Gross Profit | 56,674 | 51,880 | % | 512.7 |
| Gross Margin | 21.7% | 21.7% | - | N/A |
| EBITDA | 17,821 | 13,389 | 33.1% | 161.2 |
| Operating Profit | 13,137 | 9,115 | 44.1% | 118.8 |
| Net Profit | 8,487 | 4,670 | 81.7% | 76.7 |
Revenue during the first quarter increased as a result of a steady increase in sales of the Staffing SBU (Strategic Business Unit) which is the group’s core business, and increased sales in other SBUs.
Operating profit increased because of the growth of the profitable BPO (business process outsourcing) sector in Staffing SBU and recovery of sales in other SBUs as a result of demand recovering from the effect of Covid-19.
Revenue by SBU segment
| (JPY millions) | Q1 2021 | Q1 2020 | Change | Q1 2021 (USD millions) |
| Staffing | 137,846 | 130,678 | 5.5% | 1,247.0 |
| Career | 17,602 | 16,827 | 4.6% | 159.2 |
| Professional Outsourcing | 28,222 | 26,415 | 6.8% | 255.3 |
| Solution | 2,181 | 952 | 129.0% | 19.7 |
| APAC | 67,306 | 65,980 | 2.0% | 608.8 |
| Other | 3,314 | 2,364 | 40.2% | 29.9 |
Within the Staffing SBU, sales and operating profit increased due to continuously robust business in the core clerical and administrative staffing sector and strong orders from public-related projects in the BPO sector. Sales in the temporary staffing sector increased due to a rise in operating hours, although the number of temporary active staff decreased year over year.
Within the Career SBU, sales increased due to the recovery trend in companies’ demand for hiring across most industries supported by aggressive sales promotion activities.
In the Professional Outsourcing unit, revenue increased with IT demonstrating continued stable growth. In the engineering area, which had been significantly affected by Covid-19, a recovery in demand, mainly for development in the manufacturing industry, led to an improvement.
In the Solution SBU, revenue increased mainly because job search application business grew as companies’ demand for hiring recovered supported by aggressive sales promotion activities.
In Asia Pacific, revenue on a local currency basis decreased from the same period in the previous fiscal year (January to March 2020) which was before the business in Australia and parts of Asia were greatly affected by Covid-19.
Looking ahead, the company forecasted H1 revenue of JPY 505.2 billion (USD 4.57 billion).
Shares in Persol Holdings set a new 52-week high during today's trading session when it reached JPY 2,410.00 (USD 21.80). Over this period, the share price is up 54.57%. The company last traded at JPY 2,399 (USD 21.70), up 3.58% on the day. The company has a market cap of JPY 548.21 billion (USD 4.95 billion).