In market trading, it is worth noting that the group's share price has just fallen below a new 10-year low, a period during which its revenue stagnated while its operating profit was nearly halved.
Once adjusted for inflation, underperformance is startling - and all the more so given that between 2016 and 2025, Adecco invested €1.4bn in external growth operations.
The bleeding has been better controlled in terms of cash flow, which nevertheless remains down. Over a cumulative 10-year period, Adecco generated €5.5bn, from which the group distributed the lion's share - €3.5bn - in dividends.
It also attempted share buybacks, allocating a total of €0.7bn, although this effort was offset by the capital increase it was forced to make urgently during the pandemic.
Adecco continues to operate with high leverage - its net debt represents three years of EBITDA, and four years of free cash flow. All said, it continues to face investor distrust regarding its inability to return to growth.
Adecco Group AG, formerly Adecco S.A., provides human resource (HR) services. The Company's services include temporary staffing, permanent placement, outsourcing, career transition. It operates through two business lines: Staffing and Solutions. The Staffing business line includes General Staffing, which includes Office and Industrial, and Professional Staffing, which includes Information Technology, Engineering and Technical, Finance and Legal, and Medical and Science. The Solutions business line includes Business Process Outsourcing, which includes Managed Service Programs, Recruitment Process Outsourcing and Vendor Management System, and Career Transition and Talent Development, which includes outplacement, career development, change management solutions, training and consulting. Its segments include France, North America, UK & Ireland, Germany & Austria, Japan, Italy, Benelux, Nordics, Iberia, Australia & New Zealand, Switzerland, Emerging Markets and Lee Hecht Harrison.
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