The results reveal Q1 2019 GP was up 5% – to €1.08bn (£920m) from €1.03bn, while revenue was down 1% to €5.64bn from €5.69bn in Q1 2018.

This was against a backdrop of stabilising growth in Europe, accelerated growth in the Rest of World and a slowdown of growth in North America.

Japan was the group’s standout performer, with revenue up 14% year-on-year, while revenue was down 9% in Benelux and the Nordics.

Revenue was up 6% for the group’s North America, UK & Ireland general staffing business, but fell 1% for its North America, UK & Ireland professional staffing business. 

Commenting on the group’s performance, CEO Alain Dehaze said: “We continue to make good progress with our GrowTogether transformation programme, which underpinned another quarter of robust productivity growth. And a focus on pricing discipline and improving the business mix with higher-value solutions supported further gross margin improvement.

“The ‘Perform, Transform, Innovate’ strategy continues to build momentum. We are on track to deliver our target of a further €70m of productivity savings from GrowTogether in 2019. 

“We are only part way through our transformation journey but I am pleased by the progress made so far, and excited about the potential still to be delivered in 2019 and beyond.”

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