Analysis of 12 recruitment companies share price performance since Lehman's filed for bankruptcy in Sept 2008 Companies analysed - Robert Walters, Robert Half, SThree, Adecco, Manpower, Micheal Page, Harvey Nash, Matchtech, Interquest, Hydrogen, Hays and Randstad

1. Recruitment Company Share Price Performance
A simple analysis showing the share price performance of 12
recruitment companies* since Lehman's filed for bankruptcy in
Sept 2008
*Hays, Michael Page, Robert Walters, Robert Half, Hydrogen, Sthree, Matchtech, Randstad,
Manpower, Interquest, Harvey Nash, Adecco
Marcus Panton
Talent Acquisition Consulting and Training
Twitter - @MarcusConGusano
LinkedIn - http://uk.linkedin.com/in/marcuspantongusanoltd/

2. Contents
1. Summary
2. Share Price Performance, Sept 08 to Date with ROI if you’d
invested £5,000 over that period
3. The best and worst share price performers of 2013, and ROI if
you’d invested £5,000 over that period
4. Graph showing all 12 companies share price performance: Sept
2008 to date
5. Q4 Recruitment Market Sound-bites: (we had it all) rebrands,
acquisitions, share price highs and profit warnings

3. Summary
Since Lehman’s filed for bankruptcy in Sept 2008 recruitment company share prices have been
experiencing a roller coaster ride and you would have needed nerves of steel to have invested
your hard earned cash in any of them.
For those with such nerves the rewards were there to be found with 11 of the 12 companies
included in this analysis outperforming the FTSE100 index over that time , however there is a
staggering 1407% difference between the best and worst performers
2013 has been a strong year for most recruitment company shares with all 12 companies
analysed showing positive returns ranging from 107% to 240%. The average share price growth
in 2013 across the 12 companies analysed is 159% and leading the way are Interquest,
Manpower, Randstad and Matchtech who all achieved a higher than average ROI last year.
So recruitment company share prices are on the rise and anecdotal evidence (from the work I
do and the conversations I’m having with my own network of recruitment professionals) would
suggest there’s a positive feeling going into 2014. However, it’s not all good news and Q4
reminded us of that with a real mix of corporate news ranging from acquisitions, outperform
ratings, rebranding's and profit warnings, plus most of the companies analysed are still a long
way off their all time share price high.

4. Recruitment Company Shareprice Performance v's The Market (Since Lehmans filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Sept 15th 2008)
Share Price
Share Price
Performance
ROI
(If you'd
invested
£5,000)
P/L
v's Index
FTSE 100
FTSE 250
AIM
74.6
245.4
7030.8
139.9
451.1
4113.0
3507.5
31.7
1884.2
1519.5
8778.2
24.9
Headcount
Harvey Nash
Rob Walters
Randstad
MatchTech
SThree
ManPower
Robert Half
Interquest
Hays
M. Page
Adecco
Hydrogen
Market Cap
(GBP m)
Company
If you'd invested £5,000 into any of the below recruitment companies just before the market crash in Sept 2008, what would it be worth now?
743
2193
29300
381
2200
28000
12000
223
7810
5099
31000
368
(WC 12/09/08)
35.75
127.75
20.8
259.5
197.5
49.17
25.98
60
88
336.25
51
94
(02/01/2014)
102.67
315.25
47.38
575
362.75
85.01
41.72
91
128.8
492
71
106.5
(%)
287.2%
246.8%
227.8%
221.6%
183.7%
172.9%
160.6%
151.7%
146.4%
146.3%
139.2%
113.3%
(£)
£14,359.4
£12,338.6
£11,389.4
£11,079.0
£9,183.5
£8,644.5
£8,029.3
£7,583.3
£7,318.2
£7,316.0
£6,960.8
£5,664.9
(£)
£9,359.4
£7,338.6
£6,389.4
£6,079.0
£4,183.5
£3,644.5
£3,029.3
£2,583.3
£2,318.2
£2,316.0
£1,960.8
£664.9
5240.7
8966.8
768.6
6749.09
15935.28
850.86
128.8%
177.7%
110.7%
£6,439.1
£8,885.7
£5,535.1
£1,439.1
£3,885.7
£535.1
Notes
I simply took the opening price for each stock (and indices) for the week commencing Sept 12th 2008, and for Thursday 2nd Jan 2014
I will update this analysis at the end of each quarter and build an ongoing picture of recruitment company shareprice performance overtime
If you are reading this and would like me to add other listed recruitment companies into the mix - please DM via LinkedIn or Twitter
This exercise was done purely out of professional curiousity as an active trader, investor and recruitment professional.

5. Recruitment Company Shareprice Performance v's The Market
Share price performance 2013 - Jan 1st 2013 - Jan 2nd 2014
Share price performance Q4 2013
(Jan 1st 2013) (Jan 2nd 2014)
(Oct 1st) (Jan 2nd 2014)
MatchTech
240
575.0
240% £11,979.2 £6,979.2 441.0
575.0
130% £6,519.3
ManPower
41.82
85.0
203% £10,163.8 £5,163.8
72.2
85.0
118% £5,883.9
Interquest
52.5
91.0
173% £8,666.7 £3,666.7
80.0
91.0
114% £5,687.5
Randstad
27.41
47.4
173% £8,642.8 £3,642.8
41.8
47.4
113% £5,672.9
Harvey Nash
62.5
102.7
164% £8,213.6 £3,213.6
90.0
102.7
114% £5,703.9
Robert Walters
196.2
315.3
161% £8,033.9 £3,033.9 325.6
315.3
97% £4,841.8
Hays
83.1
128.8
155% £7,749.7 £2,749.7 118.4
128.8
109% £5,439.2
Adecco
48.95
71.0
145% £7,252.3 £2,252.3
64.8
71.0
110% £5,482.6
Robert Half
31.4
41.7
133% £6,643.3 £1,643.3
38.5
41.7
108% £5,412.6
Hydrogen
85
106.5
125% £6,264.7 £1,264.7
92.5
106.5
115% £5,756.8
Micheal Page
393.4
492.0
125% £6,253.2 £1,253.2 491.9
492.0
100% £5,001.0
SThree
340
362.8
107% £5,334.6 £334.6
346.0
362.8
105% £5,242.1
v's Index
FTSE 100
FTSE 250
AIM
5925.37
12359.7
704.78
6749.1
15938.3
850.9
114%
129%
121%
£5,695.1 £695.1 6462.2
£6,447.7 £1,447.7 14905.8
£6,036.4 £1,036.4 796.5
6749.1
15938.3
850.9
P/L
ROI
(If you'd invested
£5,000)
Performance
Price
Price
P/L
ROI
(If you'd invested
£5,000)
Performance
Price
Price
Company
If you'd invested £5,000 into any of the below recruitment companies at the start of 2013 and at the beginning of Q4
what would it be worth now?
£1,519.3
£883.9
£687.5
£672.9
£703.9
-£158.2
£439.2
£482.6
£412.6
£756.8
£1.0
£242.1
104.4% £5,222.0 £222.0
106.9% £5,346.3 £346.3
106.8% £5,341.2 £341.2

6. 0
2008
Apr
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
300
May
500
Mar
Feb
Jan
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sept 12th
600
Recruitment Company Shareprice Performance: Sept 2008 - Date
Harvey Nash
Robert
Walters
SThree
MatchTech
Robert Half
400
Interquest
Micheal Page
ManPower
Adecco
Hays
200
100

7. Recruitment News/Q4 sound bites: share price highs,
acquisitions, re-brands and profit warnings
Manpower Reaches 52-Week High
Shares of ManpowerGroup Inc. hit a new 52-week high of $83.99 on Dec 16, eventually closing at $83.40.
Source: www.nasdaq.com
http://www.nasdaq.com/article/manpower-reaches-52week-high-analyst-blogcm311941#ixzz2pHCJJgvPhttp://www.nasdaq.com/article/manpower-reaches-52week-high-analyst-blog-cm311941
InterQuest Group Plc acquires ECOM Recruitment Limited
InterQuest Group Plc:Says it has acquired ECOM Recruitment Limited, UK's digital technology recruitment business for a
total consideration of up to 7.04 million pounds.
Source: Reuters
http://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/ITQ.L/key-developments/article/2877034
Robert Half Hits 52-Week High
Shares of the leading specialized staffing firm Robert Half International Inc. reached a 52-week high of $41.24 on Friday, Dec
20, 2013 following the launch of a mobile application, Protiviti Mobiliti, by Protiviti, the wholly owned subsidiary of RHI
Source: www.nasdaq.com
http://www.nasdaq.com/article/robert-half-hits-52week-high-analyst-blog-cm313455#ixzz2pHIprWI0
Hydrogen end year with a Profit Warning
The Board expects that profit before tax for the second half of the year will be lower than the first half, and therefore that
profit before tax for the year to 31 December 2013 will be below market expectations.
Source: Staffing Industry Analysis
http://www.staffingindustry.com/eng/Research-Publications/Daily-News/UK-Hydrogen-ends-year-with-a-profit-warning28378#sthash.ohI9yl9l.dpuf

8. Recruitment News/Q4 sound bites: Cont’…
Hays plc’s Outperform Rating Reaffirmed at BNP Paribas
BNP Paribas reissued their outperform rating on shares of Hays plc in a research report released on Wednesday morning,
Analyst RN reports. BNP Paribas currently has a GBX 130 ($2.13) price objective on the stock.
Source: WKRB News:
http://www.wkrb13.com/markets/239133/hays-plcs-outperform-rating-reaffirmed-at-bnp-paribas-has/
Michael Page International Plc Issues FY 2013 Operating Profit Guidance - Below Analysts' Estimates
Michael Page International Plc announced that it expects fiscal 2013 operating profit to be around GBP68 million. According
to I/B/E/S Estimates, analysts on an average were expecting the Company to report operating profit of GBP90 million for
fiscal 2013.
Source: Reuters
http://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/MPI.L/key-developments/article/2846859
SThree Full-Year Profit Set To Fall, But Meet Analysts' Expectations
Staffing company SThree PLC predicted a further decline in its full-year pretax profit as a rise in profits from contract
placements failed to offset a further fall in profits from permanent placements, but said business had picked up in the
fourth quarter.
Source: www.lse.co.uk
http://www.lse.co.uk/AllNews.asp?code=zovhxssn&headline=SThree_FullYear_Profit_Set_To_Fall_But_Meet_Analysts_Exp
ectations
Randstad Rebrands Operating Companies Under One Brand
Randstad Finance & Accounting, Randstad Human Resources, The Mergis Group and Accountants International to be called
Randstad Professionals
Source: The Sacramento Bee
http://www.sacbee.com/2013/12/23/6022834/randstad-rebrands-operating-companies.html

9. About GusanoLtd
Gusano is a Talent Acquisition Consultancy that brings together a collection of industry experts from all
corners of the recruitment profession, (in-house, agency and RPO), to design and deliver bespoke training
programmes and consultancy projects with a simple goal in mind; 'To enhance performance, raise standards,
and enable change through support and learning'.
Specialties
DSO - Direct Sourcing Optimisation (in-house)
Social Media Sourcing
New Starter Selection, On-Boarding and Training
One2One Coaching, Leadership Development
Control & Influence
360 Degree Recruitment
Bespoke Recruitment Training
Marcus Panton – 07538 122 433
Talent Acquisition Consulting and Training
Twitter - @MarcusConGusano
LinkedIn - http://uk.linkedin.com/in/marcuspantongusanoltd/