Second-quarter profits at Manpower, the world’s second-largest recruiter, have beaten market expectations, sending the firm’s share price soaring.

Manpower posted earnings of $62.5m (£36m), boosting share prices by more than 10%.

Better operating margins and strong foreign currencies helped the firm earn 70¢ per share, compared with 56¢ per share a year earlier.

Analysts were expecting in the region of 64¢ per share, and some had expected flat economic growth in Europe to affect results.

But quarterly revenue rose 12% to $4.1bn (£2.4bn), prompting the Milwaukee-based company to predict third-quarter earnings of between 81¢ and 85¢ per share.

“What we’re hearing from customers is things aren’t bad. What they are is just very measured,” said chief executive Jeff Joerres.

“In the third quarter, we would anticipate the top-line growth rate slowing slightly, but still being able to deliver solid earnings per share growth.”

Analyst Jeff Silber of Harris Nesbitt said in a research note that a recent financial restructuring resulted in strong operating margins and low interest expense.

The figures included a first-quarter non-operating gain of $14.2m (£8.2m).

Joerres added: “We aggressively executed our initiatives, yielding strong results. Our focus on growth in specialty areas is enabling us to expand our offering and enhance profitability.”

New accounting rules have created demand for staff, he said: “Our finance and accounting group continues to show solid growth in Sarbanes-Oxley and non-Sarbanes compliance work, which is a balance we have been striving toward.”