highlights
- Q3 2019 organic growth: -2.5%
- Q3 2019 underlying EBITA: € 298m
- Q3 2019 EBITA margin: 5.0%
- topline in Europe stabilizing, US slightly easing, both impacted by macro uncertainty; robust growth in Rest of the world.
- gross margin 20.1%, up 30bp YoY; continued management focus on pricing, supported by digital tools.
- Q3 2019 EBITA margin down 10bp YoY to 5.0%; selective investments in growth areas continue.
- ongoing market share gains in several countries, fueled by digital strategy.
- Q3 FCF more than doubling YoY to € 468m
- September organic sales growth in line with Q3; volumes in early October indicate a continuation of the trend.
"Our strong gross margin and balanced cost management were able to offset slightly negative organic revenue growth in Q3 2019, while generating record high quarterly free cash flow," says CEO Jacques van den Broek. “We continue to gain market share in several countries, in part driven by the successful progression of our digital strategy across the world. We experienced ongoing weakness in industrial-related sectors, while still identifying ample growth opportunities globally. This means that we continue to balance selective investments for the longer term, while managing more challenging markets. Meanwhile, our free cash flow more than doubled year-on-year in Q3 2019. This underpins the countercyclical nature of our working capital requirements, and hence the resilience of our free cash flow generation through the cycle.”
“Finally, I’m very happy with the proposal to nominate René Steenvoorden as Chief Digital Officer to our Executive Board. This appointment will further strengthen the new setup of our executive team, in which countries, regions, clients and the digital transformation are now all directly represented. With this team, I’m convinced we’ll be able to further accelerate the execution of our Tech & Touch strategy.”
about randstad
Randstad is a global talent leader with the vision to be the world’s most equitable and specialized talent company. As a partner for talent and through our four specializations - Operational, Professional, Digital and Enterprise - we provide clients with the high-quality, diverse and agile workforces that they need to succeed in a talent scarce world. We help people secure meaningful roles, develop relevant skills and find purpose and belonging in their workplace. Through the value we create, we are committed to a better and more sustainable future for all. Headquartered in the Netherlands, Randstad operates in 39 markets and has approximately 40,000 employees. In 2023, we supported 2 million talent to find work and generated a revenue of €25.4 billion. Randstad N.V. is listed on the Euronext Amsterdam. For more information, see www.randstad.com.
for more information
Elise Martin-Davies
+31 (0)6 1322 5136
press@randstad.com