By Ian Walker
Randstad said that it will return 632 million euros ($680.8 million) to shareholders as part of its capital allocation policy, and reported a fall in net profit for the fourth quarter of last year.
The Dutch staffing company said Tuesday that it will pay an ordinary cash dividend of EUR2.28 a share and a special dividend of EUR1.27. The capital return reflects the company’s strong balance sheet, it said.
Net profit for the quarter ended Dec. 31 was EUR161 million compared with EUR292 million for same period a year earlier.
Underlying earnings before interest, taxes and amortization–a company-preferred metric that strips out exceptional and other one-off items–fell to EUR265 million from EUR364 million, matching consensus taken from the company’s website.
Revenue decreased to EUR6.18 billion from EUR7.01 billion and compares with a consensus of EUR6.235 billion.
Organic revenue per working day fell 8.6% on year, while the Ebitda margin was 4.3% compared with 5.2%. The company expects first-quarter gross margin to be modestly lower sequentially due to seasonality.
“The global macroeconomic environment remains uncertain and this is…
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