Hudson Global Posts Small Second Quarter Revenue Gain
August 7, 2017 – Hudson Global Inc. / (NASDAQ:HSON) posted second quarter revenues of $113.6 million, up 3.6 percent in constant currency from a year ago.
By region, Hudson Americas led the way, recording a revenue gain of 13.7 percent while Hudson Asia Pacific had a revenue increase of 11.6 percent. Hudson Europe, meanwhile, continues to struggle, posting a revenue decrease of 15.2 percent.
The New York-based recruiting company posted a net loss of $1.2 million, or $.04 per basic and diluted share, compared with a net loss of $3.1 million, or $.09 per basic and diluted share, for the second quarter of 2016.
“We delivered solid gross margin growth around the globe, with growth in nearly every country and notable improvement in the U.K. and China,” said Stephen Nolan, chief executive officer. “We are pleased to report positive adjusted EBITDA for the fourth consecutive quarter, as we continue to focus on our core markets and practices, delivering growth and positive cash from operations.”
Robert Half Q2 Revenue Falls 2.7 Percent
Robert Half International Inc./ (NYSE:RHI) posted second quarter revenues of $1.31 billion, a 2.7 percent decrease from revenues of $1.34 billion during the same quarter last year. This matched Wall Street expectations. The Menlo Park, CA-based recruiting company recorded a second quarter profit of $80 million.
Shareholder Activity
During the second quarter, Hudson Global continued its share repurchase program which has an authorization of up to $10 million of the company’s common stock. The company purchased 140,839 shares for $.2 million as part of the repurchase program during the second quarter. Since the inception of this program in the third quarter of 2015 through the end of the second quarter of 2017, the company has purchased 3,406,991 shares for $7 million.
Zacks Investment Research raised shares of Hudson Global from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating. In addition, major shareholder Sagard Capital Partners, L.P. sold 1.1 million shares of the stock in a recent transaction. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.80, for a total value of $1.98 million. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. Currently, just 12.2 percent of the stock is owned by company insiders.
ManpowerGroup Records Global Q2 Revenue Gain; U.S. Drops Seven Percent
ManpowerGroup / (NYSE:MAN) posted revenues of $5.17 billion, an increase of three percent, compared to revenues of $5.1 billion a year ago. Five analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $5.03 billion.
Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in Hudson. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its position in the company by 14.8 percent since the start of the year. Renaissance now owns 248,096 shares of the company’s stock valued at $588,000 after buying an additional 31,996 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Hudson Global by 2.3 percent in the first quarter. Geode now owns 95,731 shares of the company’s stock valued at $226,000 after buying an additional 2,119 shares during the period. And Frontier Investment Mgmt Co. increased its position by .8 percent in the second quarter. Frontier now owns 521,901 shares valued at $1,028,000 after buying an additional 4,269 shares during the period. Institutional investors currently own just under 75 percent of the company’s stock.
Given current economic conditions, Hudson forecast third-quarter revenue of between $110 million and $120 million, a year-over-year increase of 1.8 percent to 11 percent. Shares in Hudson were unchanged $1.35 upon the release of its numbers. The company has a current market cap of $42.6 million, according to Yahoo.
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor; Stephen Sawicki, Managing Editor; and Will Schatz, Managing Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
