Staffing company Adecco posts 1Q net profit of $73.5 million

Adecco posts 1Q net profit of $73.5 million

GENEVA — Swiss-based staffing company Adecco SA on Thursday posted a first-quarter net profit of €57 million ($73.5 million) thanks to improved market conditions.

The profit compares to €23 million for the same period last year.

Adecco CEO Patrick De Maeseneire said market conditions have significantly improved in most regions with higher demand in France and North America. Revenues there returned to year-on-year growth, he said.

Group revenues for the quarter were up 7 percent at €4 billion, Adecco said.

Revenues in France — its biggest market — increased 6 percent to €1.2 billion, an improvement compared to the fourth-quarter decline of 13 percent.

In the United States and Canada, revenues increased 24 percent to €737 million.

Zuercher Kantonalbank analyst Marco Strittmatter said the results were slightly better than expected.

“The trends are quite good,” he said. “The main markets, France and the U.S., are back to growth now and every other market is also better than in the fourth quarter.”

Adecco shares closed down 2.69 percent to 59.65 Swiss francs ($53.70) on the Zurich exchange.