"We finished the year with a sound operating performance, expanding our FY 2018 EBITA margin to 4.7% and achieving strong free cash flow conversion in Q4 2018," says CEO Jacques van den Broek.
"Our revenue was stable organically year-on year in Q4, reflecting robust sales growth in North America and Rest of the world, but slowing activity in Europe in line with recent macro trends. Over the years, Randstad has increasingly become a truly global company, with more and more countries and regions throughout the world making significant contributions to our growth and profitability. In 2018, Japan, Australia, Singapore, and also the Latin American region, were particularly strong performers. Our Tech & Touch strategy is in full progress. In 2018, we successfully rolled out several digital concepts to other countries, which will fuel our growth in 2019. All our concepts are based on deep customer insights. We research the needs of our clients and candidates through our data led Customer Delight program. This global approach provides the foundation that will enable us to further improve the Human Forward experience for our clients and candidates. Our financial position remains very healthy, reflected by the proposal of a cash dividend of € 3.38 per ordinary share, including a special dividend of € 1.11, a record high. I am very proud of all my colleagues and I would like to thank them and all our stakeholders for an excellent 2018."