Hays reported a 25% increase in annual profits for the 12 months ended 30 June 2008.
 
Pre-tax profits rose to £264.4m (2007: £211.7m) on like-for-like net fee income up 24% to £786.8m.  UK like-for-like net fee income increased by 7% to £452.9m.
 
Commenting on the results, Alistair Cox, Hays’ chief executive, said: “This has been an excellent year for Hays. We have delivered record profits and cash flow, achieved strong growth and made significant progress in our strategy of diversifying our business across geographies and sectors.

“Despite clear signs of tightening economies in the latter part of the year, we delivered 24% growth in net fees (19% on a like-for-like basis) and 17% growth in operating profit (13% on a like-for-like basis).

“The international performance has been outstanding with 14 countries achieving organic growth in net fees of more than 40%. In Australia and New Zealand, we outperformed the market by a considerable distance across all major specialisms and sectors. In Asia, we more than doubled the size of our business. In continental Europe and the rest of the world, we took advantage of significant structural growth in the market by opening operations in 13 new cities and rolling out new specialisms in 13 countries. Overall, our international business grew net fees and operating profit by 40%* and now represents 42% of the group's net fees.”

Cox warned that trading conditions would be “challenging in the short term” but added that there was scope to “grow the business around the world”.