FTSE 250 recruiter Hays said on Thursday that it was resuming dividend payments as it hailed a “strong” recovery in fee and profit growth in its full-year results.
In the year to the end of June 2021, pre-tax profit rose 2% to £881.m. Group fees fell 8% to £918.1m but the company said trading improved through the year, with strong sequential growth in all regions.
First-half fees were down 24% but second-half fees rose 13% and the fourth quarter saw a 39% increase. Hays said it saw its strongest group fee performance in June since the start of the pandemic.
The board proposed to resume core dividends with a single payment of 1.22p a share for FY21 and a special dividend of 8.93p per share.
Chief executive Alistair Cox said: “Overall, the strength of the recovery has been dramatic. We now see a clear route back to, and then exceeding, pre-pandemic levels of profit, faster than we envisaged even six months ago.
“With such confidence in our future, we are proposing to resume core and special dividends, paying a total of 10.15 pence per share to shareholders in November.”
