Zurich (awp) – After returning to profit last year, Adecco confirms its medium-term financial objectives. The personnel placement giant is anticipating a margin in operating profit Ebita of between 3 and 6% over the current cycle. The Zurich group says it is on the right track in the first quarter, expecting solid growth as expected a month ago.
The group has made solid progress during the first year of implementing the “Future@Work” strategy, proving to be resilient in the face of a volatile macro-economic environment, indicates the general manager of Adecco, Alain Dehaze, quoted in the press release issued Tuesday in the preamble to the day of investors.
The interim giant intends to continue its initiatives to reduce its costs as well as those relating to the digitization of traditional models.
As a priority, Adecco wants to increase its market share in the field of personnel placement for its flagship Adecco unit, as well as its profitability. The group also aims to achieve synergies within the framework of the integration of the Franco-Belgian company Akka Technologies and the merger of the latter with Modis in the Akkodis unit.
For the Adecco unit, the Zurich multinational is aiming for an Ebita margin of between 3 and 6% over the current cycle, and 7 to 10% for the LHH and Akkodis units. The group also intends to generate a solid cash flow and “attractive” payments for its shareholders.
One of the main challenges for Adecco will be to convince investors of its ability to reverse recent market share losses and the growth gap with its main competitors, bank Vontobel writes in a note.
The group with Vaudois and French origins will also have to demonstrate the validity of its strategic choice to diversify into technology consulting with the acquisition of Akka.
Investors reacted favorably to the information distilled by Adecco. Around 10:00 a.m., the registered Adecco jumped 2.5% to 43.48 Swiss francs, while its benchmark index (SLI) rose by 0.86%.
vj/buc