By Prerna Bedi
(Reuters) -Hays on Thursday named company insider Dirk Hahn as its next CEO to take charge of the British recruitment agency as it battles a tough permanent hiring market.
The company logged annual earnings ahead of market view on Thursday, but warned net fees in the first-half ending December would decline as the permanent hiring sector remained tough with employers taking longer to hire new staff and candidates showing reluctance to change jobs in the uncertain economic climate.
Hahn, who will succeed long-standing CEO Alistair Cox in September, is head of Hays (LON:HAYS) Germany and Continental Europe, Middle East and Africa. He joined the recruiter in 1997 and has led its expansion in Germany, its largest market by net fees.
Hays becomes the latest London-listed recruiter to appoint a new CEO in the last 12 months. Robert Walters and PageGroup also picked company insiders for the top job.
"We acted swiftly to manage our capacity and costs in the face of toughening markets, delivering increased profits in our second half," CEO Alistair Cox said.
Hays declared a special dividend of 2.24 pence per share for the year ended June 30, after reporting operating profit of 197 million pounds ($250.6 million), above average analyst expectations of 193.9 million pounds, according to a company compiled consensus.
"The final and special dividends are more generous than expected," Jefferies analysts added.
Shares, however, were down 1.2% in early trade.
Cox, 62, who announced plans to step down in February, was instrumental in expanding the firm's operations as it invested heavily in information technology and data. His successor will be tasked with navigating the group through the tech slowdown and weakness in the permanent hiring market.
Cox will step down from his role on Aug. 31, and will be available until his notice period ends in August next year.
"This internal appointment is likely to result in little change to ... core strategy," said analysts at RBC.
($1 = 0.7860 pounds)