Hays (LON:HAS) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

Hays (LON:HAS) released its earnings results on Friday. The company reported GBX 0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, Digital Look Earnings reports. Hays had a negative return on equity of 0.84% and a negative net margin of 0.07%.

Here are the key takeaways from Hays’ conference call:

• Dirk Hahn has stepped down as CEO and Mark Dearnley is interim, creating near-term leadership transition risk while the board conducts a CEO search.
• Group net fees fell 9% to £453m and pre-exceptional operating profit dropped 25% to £20.1m (perm down 14%), showing profitability remains below management’s targets.
• Management cut operating costs ~8% (~£40m), improved consultant productivity by 7% (UK +15%, ANZ +7%) and has delivered ~£80m per annum of cost savings over 2.5 years, limiting the profit hit from lower fees.
• Strong cash generation with cash from operations of £43.7m, net cash of £40m, free cash flow £16.9m, a completed pension buy-in removing prior deficit funding, and reduced FY26 CapEx guidance to £30m.
• Progress on the proprietary Hays Digitise platform and AI agents (e.g., “Smarter Meetings”) is reducing admin, improving structured data and consultant effectiveness, which management expects to drive further structural savings and scalable revenue benefits.

Hays Trading Down 9.6%

Shares of HAS opened at GBX 40.56 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is GBX 48.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is GBX 54.77. The stock has a market cap of £648.44 million, a PE ratio of -82.77, a P/E/G ratio of 0.24 and a beta of 1.13. Hays has a 12 month low of GBX 39.62 and a 12 month high of GBX 89.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 43.81, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 1.31.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of Hays from GBX 100 to GBX 90 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of GBX 81.20.

Hays Company Profile