Manpower reports 2Q profit nearly doubles on acquisition, global hiring trends, no slowdown

Manpower says 2Q profit nearly doubles, no slowing

MILWAUKEE — Staffing company Manpower Inc. said Wednesday that its second-quarter net income nearly doubled, helped by the effects of an acquisition and improvement in global employment markets.

Manpower, which does much of its business outside of the United States, said countries such as Germany, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Mexico and France and Italy all had extremely strong revenue growth throughout the quarter. It also saw revenue growth in the United States despite a difficult job market.

“We have not felt any slowdown as we enter the third quarter,” said Jeffrey Joerres, Manpower’s chairman and CEO.

The company said the second quarter also included the impact of its acquisition of Comsys, a company that provides temporary employees for information technology jobs. That deal closed April 5.

The company reported net income of $32.7 million, or 40 cents per share, up from $16.3 million, or 21 cents per share, a year ago. Revenue rose 21 percent to $4.59 billion from $3.79 billion, including a 5 percent bump from Comsys.

The results beat the average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters, who expected earnings of 22 cents per share on revenue of $4.41 billion.

For the third quarter, Manpower expects earnings to range between 41 cents to 51 cents per share, an estimate that includes an unfavorable currency impact of 4 cents per share.

Analyst foresee 41 cents per share of earnings, on average.

Manpower shares traded up $1.54, or 3.3 percent, to $47.98 in morning trading.