PageGroup Regulatory News (PAGE)

14 July 2015

Michael Page International plc

SECOND QUARTER AND FIRST HALF 2015 TRADING UPDATE

Highlights*

· Group gross profit growth of 10.6%; continued growth in all four regions

· Ongoing FX headwinds lowered reported Q2 gross profit by c. £6.2m (£11.0m total in H1) and growth rates by 4.6 percentage points to 6.0% in reported rates

· Strongest growth in UK +12.8%; Page Personnel UK +21%

· EMEA, excluding Russia, +13%

· Asia Pacific grew 5.6%; growth moderated by particularly strong Greater China comparator (+37% in Q2 2014) and challenging market conditions in Australia

· Improved growth in Americas +11.5%; strong growth in North America +21%; Latin America +4%, Brazil -15%, Latin America ex Brazil +30%

· 53% of fee earners now on our new operating system, PRS

· Fee earner to operational support staff ratio at record 77:23

*in constant currencies, unless otherwise indicated

Q2 GROSS PROFIT ANALYSIS

H1 GROSS PROFIT ANALYSIS

Commenting, Steve Ingham, Chief Executive Officer said:

"The 10.6% increase in the Group's gross profit reflects continued year-on-year growth in all four regions with the UK and Americas showing improved growth rates from Q1. Our five high potential markets of Germany, Greater China, South East Asia, the US and Latin America are now performing at a record level. EMEA, when adjusted for the effect of closing our business in Russia, grew in line with Q1. The Asia Pacific growth rate slowed in Q2, but this was due to a particularly strong Q2 2014 comparator for Greater China of +37%.

"In reported rates, Q2 gross profit was up 6.0% to £145.3m. As previously highlighted, foreign exchange movements continued in Q2 lowering our reported figure by 4.6 percentage points, equivalent to £6.2m of gross profit. This has also impacted our first half reported operating profit by £2m.

"Our fee earner to operational support staff ratio returned to its record level of 77:23 in Q2, with our ongoing focus on conversion rates and maximising productivity from the investment in 468 fee earners added in 2014. We have committed to increase our number of fee earners during the second half and will continue to add selectively in our high potential markets as well as those regions where market conditions support investment.

"Our two key initiatives outside of the operational performance of the business: the roll-out of our new operating system, PRS, and the creation of a shared service centre for Europe, have progressed well and are on target in Q2. 53% of all fee earners now operate on PRS with the most recent successful roll-outs in Switzerland, Asia and Germany.

"We are pleased with our performance in Q2 and the outlook is positive for all our regions in the second half. We remain focused on productivity and ensuring that our conversion continues to improve at a steady rate. Excluding the effects of foreign exchange movements during the second quarter, forecast to reduce full year operating profit by an additional £4m (£2m in Q1, £6m in total), the Board's expectations for the full year results remain unchanged."

Enquiries:

Further information:

PageGroup will host a presentation for analysts and investors at 9.00am on 14 July 2015 at:

FTI Consulting

200 Aldersgate

Aldersgate Street

London

EC1A 4HD

A conference call facility is available for analysts and investors unable to attend, details of which are below:

http://www.investis-live.com/pagegroup/55893f06ff19db0a0001fabb/q2-2015 

Please use the following dial-in numbers to join the conference quoting "PageGroup" to gain access to the call:

A presentation and recording to accompany the Q2 Trading Update Presentation will be posted on the Company's website during the course of the morning of 14 July 2015 at:

http://www.pagegroup.co.uk/investors/reports-and-presentations/presentations-and-webcasts/2015.aspx

PageGroup will issue its interim results for the six months ending 30 June 2015 on 13 August 2015, followed by its Third Quarter 2015 Interim Management Statement on 13 October 2015.

Group Trading Update

Michael Page International plc ("PageGroup") delivered Q2 gross profit of £145.3m, up 6.0% in reported rates and up 10.6% in constant currencies, with growth in all four regions. Currency movements impacted gross profit negatively by c. £6.2m in Q2 and by c. £11.0m in the first half.

Headcount

In the first half, our key priority was to improve productivity as we brought the fee earners added last year and in Q1 up to speed. As a result, fee earner headcount grew by only 25 in the first half to total fee earners of 4,303, with a total headcount of 5,622. Productivity improved by 9% on Q1, with particular improvements seen in the UK (+8%), Page Personnel France (+11%) and Greater China (+34%). Despite the increase in the pace of the roll-out of PRS, our new operating system, and the continued transition of operational support to a shared service centre for Continental Europe, with associated short-term dual running in some areas, our fee earner to operational support staff ratio returned to the Q4 2014 record of 77:23. We have committed to increase our number of fee earners during the second half and will continue to add selectively in our high potential markets as well as those regions where market conditions support investment.

One-off items

In the first half, there are a number of one-off items within underlying operating profit. We closed our Russia business; the costs associated with exiting this market are expected to be c. £1m. We are also establishing a European shared service centre; as such there are associated transition costs which stand at c. £1m for the year to date. There is also an additional £2.1m cost resulting from higher share based payment charges, principally as a result of the increase in the share price from 411p at 31 December to 545p at the half year.

We have also made the decision to re-life our new operating system, PRS. With the majority of the Group's fee earners going live on the system in 2015, we have aligned the 5 year useful life of the system with the timing of the benefit. The effect of this decision has reduced this year's amortisation charge by c. £1.5m at the half year and we expect the full year reduction in the charge to be c. £3m.

Perm/Temp mix

In constant currencies, permanent recruitment grew at 11.3% compared to temporary recruitment which grew at 8.1%. Group gross profit from permanent recruitment grew 7.2% to £113.3m (Q2 2014: £105.8m) and temporary recruitment grew 2.1% to £32.0m (Q2 2014: £31.3m). This resulted in a ratio of permanent to temporary recruitment of 78:22.

Q2 GROSS PROFIT - DISCIPLINE ANALYSIS

H1 GROSS PROFIT - DISCIPLINE ANALYSIS

Geographical analysis (unless otherwise stated all growth rates are in constant currency)

EMEA grew Q2 gross profit by 11.4% compared to 2014 (Q1 2015: 12.1%) and by 13% if adjusted for the effects of closing our business in Russia during Q1 (Q1 2015: 13%). Page Personnel performed well across the region, with growth of 16%. Growth in France improved slightly over the first quarter, up 7% (Q1 +5%), as productivity from the new heads added in Page Personnel in late 2014 continued to rise, up 11% on Q1 2015. In Germany, strong growth continued at 15%, with Page Personnel up 28%. Benelux, Switzerland, Poland and Southern Europe all continued to perform well. In the Middle East, which was impacted by the fall in the oil price and ongoing political instability, growth was flat on 2014; however the UAE still recorded a gross profit record in the quarter. The EMEA region exited the quarter well, with June being its highest gross profit month since October 2008.

UK gross profit grew 12.8%, up on the previous quarter (Q1 +11.3%), despite the General Election which caused a brief drop in activity. Page Personnel, which represents 21% of the UK, again performed strongly, up 21%. In Michael Page, our Finance & Accounting, Legal, Procurement & Supply Chain and Property & Construction businesses all performed well. The market has been consistently strong all year, with good levels of demand and candidate shortages which are providing some degree of pricing leverage, particularly in our temp business. The mix of gross profit and growth rates of Private Sector (88%) and Public Sector (12%) remained in line with the last few quarters at 13% and 11% respectively.

Asia Pacific gross profit grew 5.6%, producing a record quarterly gross profit, which reflected strong growth in Asia (against a particularly strong comparator of 25.0% in Q2 2014) and ongoing tough economic conditions in Australia. Asia grew 9% (Q1 2015: 14%), driven by a record quarter in Greater China, which grew 11%, despite the exceptional 37% growth seen in Q2 2014. South East Asia grew 6%, with Malaysia up 48% and Indonesia, our newest country, performing well. In Australasia, which was down 2%, we saw a strong performance from our newer Page Personnel business, up 21%. However, this was offset by our Michael Page business, which was down 6%, with particularly difficult trading conditions experienced in Queensland and Victoria.

The Americas grew 11.5% in constant currencies, up from 7.1% in Q1. North America delivered a record quarter from both the USA and Canada, combined up 21%, against strong comparators. In the USA, this was driven by a stand-out performance in New York, but we also saw improvements in both our Chicago and Los Angeles offices, where we expect to build a significant market presence. Canada continued to perform well, with good results across all our offices. Latin America was up 4%, despite variable market conditions across the region. Brazil (43% of LatAm) experienced another challenging quarter, down 15%, which was in line with Q1 2015. The political and economic uncertainty continued to impact trading conditions in Brazil and, with this expected to continue for some time, we reduced our fee earner headcount by 20, or 11%. Elsewhere our other countries, which now represent 57% of LatAm, had another strong quarter, growing at 30%. Our performances in Mexico and Argentina were particularly strong.

Financial Position

Other than the effects of trading in the first half and the payment of a final dividend of £23.7m for 2014, there have been no significant changes in the financial position of the Group since the publication of the results for the year ended 31 December 2014. Net cash at 30 June 2015 was approximately £100m (31 March 2015: £102m).

Shares

At 30 June 2015 there were 325,503,064 Ordinary shares in issue, of which 15,014,320 were held by the Employee Benefit Trust (EBT). The rights to receive dividends and to exercise voting rights have been waived by the EBT over 12,732,318 shares and consequently these shares should be excluded when calculating earnings per share. The total number of voting rights in the Company is 325,503,064.

Cautionary Statement

This Second Quarter and First Half 2015 Trading Update has been prepared solely to provide additional information to shareholders to assess the Group's strategies and the potential for those strategies to succeed. The Trading Update should not be relied on by any other party or for any other purpose. This Trading Update contains certain forward-looking statements. These statements are made by the Directors in good faith based on the information available to them up to the time of their approval of this report and such statements should be treated with caution due to the inherent uncertainties, including both economic and business risk factors, underlying any such forward-looking information.

This Trading Update has been prepared for the Group as a whole and therefore gives greater emphasis to those matters that are significant to PageGroup and its subsidiary undertakings when viewed as a whole.