Manpower says Europe driving jump in profits
MANPOWER, the world’s third-biggest staffing company, reported a 50 per cent jump in quarterly profit yesterday due to cost-cutting and improved hiring trends in Europe, and forecast current-quarter profit above analysts’ expectations.
Manpower, which gets about two-thirds of its revenue from Europe, has previously shut offices in the region to cut costs as businesses held back hiring.
“Our European operations’ revenue experienced slow but steadily improving trends throughout the quarter,” chief executive Jeffrey Joerres said.
The company’s revenue rose for the first time in six quarters to $5.19bn in the third quarter, edging past the consensus estimate of $5.1bn.
Net income rose to $94.7m from $63.1m a year earlier. Manpower said it expects a profit of between $1.18 and $1.26 per share in the fourth quarter, topping the average analyst estimate of $1.16 per share.