LONDON - HAYS, Britain's biggest recruitment firm, said the British jobs market is stabilising, boosting hopes the UK is beginning to emerge from recession after a tough year in which the firm's profits tumbled.

Like-for-like net fees fell 18 per cent to 670.8 million pounds as firms across the world cut jobs to offset the fallout from the economic slump, but Hays said the pace of decline had eased in some markets, especially the UK, in recent weeks.

'For last three months it's been quite stable in a number of sectors in the UK but it's too early to call a recovery,' Chief Executive Alistair Cox told reporters on a conference call. 'We're seeing some early signs of life in UK financial services with organisations starting to hire again in areas such as risk, compliance and insurance, while banks are taking on more front office and operational staff.'

Hays' main UK rival, Michael Page, reported a flat second quarter profit last month and said the rate of decline had slowed in Britain, though the country's unemployment rate hit a 13-year high in August.

The world's biggest staffing firm, Switzerland's Adecco, recently posted a 31 per cent drop in second-quarter sales.

Dividend under pressure?
Hays, whose revenues fell 4 per cent to 2.44 billion pounds, placed 50,000 people in full-time jobs and found part-time work for some 270,000 in the past 12 months.

It held its total dividend at 5.80 pence after cutting its debt by around 82 million pounds during the year, but analysts think next year's handout could be smaller.

'Hays should have decent gearing on the upside, although we don't think a held dividend is a forgone conclusion for next year, so we remain cautious,' said Panmure analyst Mike Allen.

Shares in Hays, which have jumped 45 per cent so far this year, were down 0.9 percent at 98.9 pence by 0927 GMT (5.27pm Singapore time), trimming early losses and valuing the group at around 1.4 billion pounds. -- REUTERS