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Hays

HAS.L
17
Staffing & Employment Services · Industrials
Exchange
London Stock Exchange
Winston Score
17
Winston is worried
Weak fundamentals across most pillars.
Data as of Aug 23, 2026 · filings through Dec 31, 2025
How the score breaks down
Quality
Weak
Growth
Weak
Cash Flow
Weak
Stability
Strong
Valuation
Data not available
Dividends
Weak

Winston Score History

The full picture

Hays plc is a recruitment company based in the UK that helps businesses find workers and helps people find jobs. It specializes in professional and skilled roles across areas like technology, finance, engineering, and healthcare. Hays is one of the largest specialist recruitment firms in the world, operating across more than 20 countries.

The company makes money by charging employers a fee when a candidate is successfully placed, or by taking a margin on the wages of temporary workers it supplies. Most of its revenue comes from outside the UK, with Germany and Australia being particularly important markets. Hays has built its competitive position around deep expertise in specialist sectors, but the business is highly sensitive to economic cycles — when companies slow hiring, Hays feels it quickly. With hiring activity under pressure across many of its key markets, the main near-term challenge is returning fee volumes to growth as labor demand recovers.

Growth Profile

When traditional metrics don't capture the full picture, these are the signals growth stock investors use instead.

Revenue Growth

-5.0% YoY

YoY Growth Rate

Revenue declining

EPS Growth

+37.6% YoY

YoY Growth Rate

Strong earnings growth

Insider Activity

0.0%ownership

Declining

Insider ownership declining — could be dilution or selling

Cash Position

Cash flow positive

£169M cash & investments

Quarterly Free Cash Flow

↓ Burn rate worsening

Company generates more cash than it spends — no dilution risk from fundraising

Revenue declining

Hays's revenue is actually shrinking. In a growth stock, that removes the core investment thesis. The low Winston Score here may be warranted — unless there's a turnaround story.

The Winston Score above measures business quality today. Growth stocks often score lower because they invest in the future rather than maximising current profits. These metrics show what matters most for evaluating that future.

Score breakdown

Every number that matters to educated investors.

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Quality

Profit per sale
Gross Margin
13.0%
Thin — 13.0% gross margin
Profit after running costs
Operating Margin
0.6%
Thin — 0.6% operating margin
Return on the money invested
ROCE
6.9%
Weak — 6.9% return on capital

ROIC between 5% and 15%. They earn 5 to 15 cents back per year on every dollar invested.

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Growth

Sales growth
Sales YoY
-4.2%
Shrinking sales (-4.2% YoY)
Profit growth
EPS YoY
N/A
Data not available
How steady the profit is
EPS Consistency
3/8 quarters
Earnings rarely grow — volatile business

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Cash Flow

Profit that turns into cash
Cash Conversion
N/A
Data not available
Spare cash per sale
FCF Margin
1.4%
Thin free cash flow (1.4%)

FCF margin between 0% and 10%. Some cash from sales, but not a lot.

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Stability

What it owes vs what it owns
Debt / Equity
0.28
Conservative — low debt load (0.28)
Covers its interest
Interest Cover
2.84x
Tight — interest eats into profit (2.8x)

Interest coverage between 1 and 3. Profits cover interest, but with little room to spare.

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Valuation

Price vs profit
P/E Ratio (TTM)
N/M
no trend
Negative earnings — P/E not meaningful
Cheaper or dearer next year
P/E vs Forward
N/A
not available
Data not available

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Dividends

Dividend
Dividend Yield
0.63%
no trend
Small dividend — 0.63% yield

Modest yield. The bulk of any return needs to come from price appreciation.

Dividend record
Dividend Growth
-77.7%
no trend
Dividend cut (-77.7% YoY) — warning sign

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