For equality's sake, I'll post my fave list here aswell as on the other board of the share I also bought into today.
My current faves...
ABRDN
BURBERRY GROUP
CAB PAYMENTS HOLDINGS
CLOSE BROS GROUP
COSTAIN
CVS GROUP
DR. MARTENS
EASYJET
FDM GROUP
FERREXPO
FRASERS GROUP
HALFORDS
HAYS
IG DESIGN GROUP
INTL CONS AIRLINE
ITV
JD SPORTS
JOHN WOOD (WOOD GROUP)
KIER
MARSTONS
MOBICO GROUP
ON THE BEACH
PERSIMMON
PRUDENTIAL
PZ CUSSONS
RANK GROUP
REACH
SEVERFIELD
SMITHS NEWS
SPEEDY HIRE
STAFFLINE
TRAVIS PERKINS
VIDENDUM
VISTRY GROUP
WATCHES OF SWITZERLAND
WICKES GROUP
WIZZ AIR
YOUGOV |
Looking good at this price now |
Bought in today at 78p GLA. |
UK Budget is a fortnight away. From the hints being picked up so far, what impact might be expected on RWA/HAS/PAGE? And is any one of them likely to respond any differently from the other two? |
HAYS is a top AND leading recruitment agency that uses LinkedIn and Indeed for its job search engine aggregation and job listings. If the top recruitment agency is reliant on those 2 external portals then an investment in Microsoft and Recruit Holdings Co will make more sense. Sell Hays. |
I don't see a buy case atm. |
 2*
Another soft quarterly update from recruitment company Hays plc. Net fees in the quarter were down as expected reflecting the tough market conditions, particularly in Permanent where management are seeing a longer time to hire and low levels of confidence. Both are also expected to continue which points to more soft performance ahead. This quarter Group net fees were down 14%, with Temp down 10% and Perm down 20%. Management are continuing to counter the fall in revenue by cutting headcount, consultant headcount reduced by 2% in the quarter and is down by 18% YoY. And also by boosting consultant productivity which was up 5% yoy by focusing on operational rigour and resource allocation. Longer run Initiatives to deliver c.£30m per annum structural savings by the end of FY27 are progressing well, but these cost savings are relatively modest, about 4%-4.5% of total FY23 operating costs. Still every little helps and recruitment businesses are highly cyclical. Share price focused more on the positives this morning, but it remains in a longer run correction. Valuation is also still toppish with forward PE at 19.3x, although this is more or less in line with rivals PAGE and RWA. Not much reason to buy into the sector at present, wait for rate cuts to be delivered and economy to reaccelerate later in 2025...
...from WealthOracle
wealthoracle.co.uk/detailed-result-full/HAS/863 |
If macro were to weaken from here and a recession is seen in multiple regions. then under 80 pence may be seen.
Depends where you think we are in the wider economic cycle. |
The structural cost savings are the relevant ones.
It's relatively easy to make 'cyclical' savings by just cutting fee earners. |
Hays Group posted a softish set of Interims this morning confirming that performance has been challenging, but interestingly the share price has rallied anyway suggesting that all the bad news may now be in the price. Group fees decreased by 12% to £1,113.6m, PBT before exceptionals was down 51% to £94.7m, there was a statutory basic EPS loss of 0.31p. There was weakness in the Group’s 3 largest markets, the US, Germany and Australia. Group headcount decreased 15%, management reduced costs by an annualised c.£60 million and expect to deliver further structural cost savings of c.£30 million per annum by the end of FY27. Valuation isn’t particularly helpful with forward PE ratio at 22.4x and bottom quartile for the sector. But the share price is up nearly 4%. True, the news was maybe not as bad as feared, but there is no rush to buy here. Monitor for now...from WealthOracle
wealthoracle.co.uk/detailed-result-full/HAS/853 |
Need to look at the pre exceptionals,
they still made over £90 million on pre tax.
Marshall Wace short, just to add. |
Yes and outlook was not too good either |
Interesting, no sell off. That was truly a dreadful set of results! |
Worse than I expected.
Let's see how the market reacts |
Oh dear! Do you still hold EI ? |
Better than I expected.
Bought a small amount. |
Tomorrow's update likely to be gruesome?. |
Net fees. Double digit falls in all regions |
I was suprised at the bounce back near £1 last week, obvs very different today. |
Slightly uglier sister. Q3.
Closing today below the covid low |
Will Hays need to to reduce FY 24 guidance with February's update?, would not bet against that. |
Oh for the days when this was £4.50 |
Hi Dave, added a small amount this morning. IF macro continues to weaken
and equity markets sell off hard, under 80 pence is more than possible. |
Overview of RWS, PAGE and HAS.Https://www.ii.co.uk/analysis-commentary/stockwatch-are-these-three-shares-canaries-coalmine-ii529474 |
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