Chief Executive Alistair Cox told Reuters he was confident of delivering the five-year goal to increase operating profits to 250 million pounds ($414.90 million).

"We are about 10 million pounds ahead of where we thought we would be by now, towards that five-year goal," he said. "If broad global economic stability continues ... then we feel very confident that we can deliver that doubling of profit."

The company posted a 12 percent rise in operating profit for the full year to 140.3 million. Pretax profit was 132.3 million pounds, in line with analyst expectations.

However the impact of a strong British pound wiped 8.3 million pounds off the company's balance sheet.

Hays, which places workers in areas such as finance, construction and IT, raised its dividend by 5 percent to 2.63 pence - the first increase since 2008. Operating cash flow grew 29 percent to 175 million.

Cox said the company would focus on distributing its free cash flow back to shareholders through both core dividends and special dividends in the next few years.

Strong performances in the United Kingdom and Ireland, the United States and continental Europe were balanced by an 18 percent drop in net fees in the Asia Pacific region, where growth in Australia remained tough due to a slowdown in the mining sector.

The company said 19 out of 33 countries delivered record net fees growth, with Spain, France, Belgium all showing signs of improvement despite the sluggish recovery in euro zone economies.

Hays, which employs 8,237 people across 33 countries, said it had increased its headcount by 6 percent in anticipation of further growth in its key markets.

Shares in Hays were up 0.3 percent at 130 pence by 09:48 AM BST.

"A return to dividend growth with a formal structure for future payout also provides confidence and reassurance over the use of surplus cash into recovery," said Liberum analysts.

"Hays remains in the early stages of a recovery, with profit conversion below average and well below prior peak. We reiterate our "buy" rating," they said.

(Reporting by Li-mei Hoang; editing by Paul Sandle and Tom Pfeiffer)

By Li-mei Hoang