Johannesburg - Human resources specialist Adcorp suggested
on Tuesday that proposed regulatory changes to labour broking could actually
prove advantageous.
In comments accompanying Adcorp’s year to end-February 2010
results, CEO Richard Pike pointed out that the proposed regulations were
similar to what had been adopted in Europe.
He said that in Europe such regulations tended to favour the
larger, sophisticated players "whose respective market shares have
generally increased following the enactment of similar regulation".
Adcorp, which boasts annual turnover of R5bn, is a main
player in both blue collar and white collar temporary recruitment markets in
SA.
Pike said the case for "intermediating" contract workers was
also strengthened by the proposed regulations – which he believed should also
favour Adcorp.
While there were initially calls from certain quarters for
an outright ban on labour broking, government has proposed regulations in an
effort to curtail exploitative practices in the sector.
Politics aside, Adcorp endured a tough financial year,
reporting a 38% slump in profits to R104m. Operating margins came under
pressure, dropping from 23% last year to 21.7%.
Diluted headline earnings came in at 191 cents per share
(270c). Most reassuring, despite the earnings drop, was that free cash
generated came in at 222c/share.
Adcorp proposed a scrip dividend, but tagged this to a cash
distribution option of 115c/share.
- Fin24.com