Hays shares rise as underlying fee declines ease

(Sharecast News) - The share price of Hays continued to rebound after sinking to an all-time low at the start of the week, with a trading update from the recruitment firm on Thursday revealing that the decline in like-for-like fees eased slightly in the third quarter. The firm said it was mindful of current macreconomic conditions but painted a positive outlook, helped by recent cost actions to improve its financial performance.

Hays reported that group net fees were 7% lower year-on-year during the three months to 31 March, falling 8% on a LFL basis, compared with the 10% LFL fall experienced in the second quarter.

The LFL decline in temp and contracting net fees slowed to 6% from 8%, while the LFL fall in permanent net fees eased to 12% from 14%.

LFL declines were registered across all of Hays' four reporting divisions of Germany, UK and Ireland, Australia and New Zealand, and Rest of World, though good temp and contracting net fee growth was seen in several of its 'focus' countries, particularly Japan and Spain.

Consultant net fee productivity growth was also positive for the 10th straight quarter at 7%, up from 6% in the second quarter, with good conversion of the bid pipeline in the enterprise solutions space.

Meanwhile, Hays said it has made "strong progress" with its structural cost savings target of £45m per annum by the end of FY29, having secured £30m of annualised savings already in the first nine months of FY26.

"Looking ahead, we remain mindful of heightened global macro-economic uncertainty and the impact this could have on the wider economy," said chief executive Mark Dearnley, who is serving in an interim capacity following the abrupt departure of former boss Dirk Hahn in February.

"However, we are executing well and taking decisive actions to improve our portfolio and restore our financial performance. We continue to make strong progress with our structural cost and productivity initiatives and expect the full financial benefits to build over time."

The stock was up 4.9% at 33.72p by 0925 BST, rising for the third day after settling at a record-low closing price of 29.64p on Monday. However, the shares are still down 38.5% since the start of 2026.

See the latest RNS on Investegate.