02.02.10
Shares of staffing cos. rise on Manpower results
NEW YORK – Shares of several staffing agencies ticked higher Tuesday after Manpower Inc. posted fourth-quarter results that beat analysts’ expectations, and its CEO said he is confident about the sustainability of an economic recovery.
Manpower said quarterly earnings plunged 62 percent as employers still feared taking on more workers and unemployment continued to hover around 10 percent. Still, the results topped estimates and CEO Jeffrey Joerres said revenue should start to grow in the first quarter for the first time since late 2008.
“(The) CEO’s commentary regarding the recovery was much stronger and more positive than his comments out of Davos last week,” Deutsche Bank analysts wrote in a note to investors Tuesday, referring to the annual World Economic Forum in Switzerland.
The Milwaukee-based company said it’s continuing to see improving trends across its businesses and is more confident that the global economic recovery is sustainable. It also announced it will acquire fellow staffing firm Comsys IT Partners Inc installment payday loans., which provides temporary employees for information technology jobs.
Shares of Manpower Inc. rose $2.08, or 3.9 percent, to $55.24 in afternoon trading.
Other staffing companies also advanced. Shares of Robert Half International Inc. gained 32 cents to $27.19. The owner of Accountemps and OfficeTeam last week reported a 65 percent drop in its fourth-quarter earnings as high unemployment persisted but also still beat Wall Street expectations. The company placed more temporary and more permanent workers in new jobs than it had in the third quarter, providing some evidence of a recovery.
Shares of blue-collar staffer True Blue Inc. added 28 cents, or 2 percent, to $14.47 and jobs Web site operator Monster Worldwide Inc. climbed 35 cents, or 2.3 percent, to $15.94. Kelly Services Inc. rose 24 cents to $13.80.