BUZZ - Randstad's third-quarter results exceeded expectations, stock price posts best single-day performance in over twenty years

October 21 - ** Shares of recruitment company Randstad soared 16%, leading the pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX, after the company exceeded market expectations for both revenue and profit (link)

** The company’s organic revenue grew 3.9% in the third quarter, surpassing the consensus expectation of 2.9%; and underlying EBITA stood at 211 million euros (about $237 million), exceeding the market expectation of 200 million euros

** KBC Securities stated that the gross margin matched expectations at 17.8%, meaning that the strong revenue growth momentum will extend to other parts of the income statement

** KBC added that this result should compensate for Randstad’s share price weakness following disappointing results reported by peer company Manpower MAN.N (link) last week; Randstad shares dropped around 4.4% between October 15 and the close this Tuesday

** Jefferies stated that although softer gross margins could limit further upside, fourth-quarter revenue momentum is expected to continue beating expectations

** The stock is moving toward its best single-day performance in 24 years

** Shares of peer company Adecco (ADEN.S) rose 7.6%

(1 US dollar = 0.8913 euros)

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