Staffing provider ManpowerGroup misses profit expectations amid a ‘softening demand environment’

Staffing services company ManpowerGroup
MAN,
-0.34%
reported Tuesday fourth-quarter profit that fell shy of expectations, as a strong dollar hurt results, while revenue topped expectations by declined more than 10% as demand softened. Net income fell to $48.7 million, or 95 cents a share, from $111.1 million, or $2.02 a share, in the year-ago period. Excluding nonrecurring items, such as acquisition integration costs, a loss on the sale of its Hungary business and goodwill impairment and pension settlement charges, adjusted earnings per share came to $2.08, below the FactSet consensus of $2.11. The company said a stronger U.S. dollar reduced EPS by 30 cents. Revenue fell 10.6% to $4.81 billion, above the FactSet consensus of $4.76 billion. “Our fourth quarter results reflect a softening demand environment, particularly in Europe and North America,” said Chief Executive Jonas Prising. For the first quarter, the company expects EPS of between $1.61 and $1.71, which is above the current FactSet consensus of $1.54. The stock, which was still inactive in premarket trading, has rallied 10.9% over the past three months while the S&P 500
SPX,
-1.30%
has gained 3.8%.