LONDON (dpa-AFX) - Recruitment company Hays plc (HAS.L) said Thursday that it now expects Group operating profit for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2020, to be materially below the 190 million pounds market consensus average due to the impact of COVID-19, while the trading for Jan.1 - Mar.13 was in line with its expectations. During the period, like-for-like net fees were down c.5 percent year-on-year.
Due to the rapidly escalating impact of COVID-19, the Group said impact was felt most in Europe, while it was least in Australia. Permanent recruitment witnessed more of impact than Temporary, and the Private sector has been more impacted than the Public sector, the Group noted.
In addition, the Group said its Board decided to cancel the 1.11 pence per share interim dividend, due to be paid on April 9, to holders of ordinary shares on the register at the close of business on March 5.
Separately, Hays announced that it intends to conduct a non-pre-emptive placing of new ordinary shares of the Company, targeting gross proceeds of about 200 million pounds.
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