Shareholders in recruitment giant Hays have staged a major protest over the reappointment of PwC as its auditor.
Just over 20 per cent voted against the reappointment of the accountancy giant to the role it has served since 2016 at Hays’ annual general meeting.
At the same meeting, 19.8 per cent of shareholders voted against how much PwC is paid for its work.
According to Hays’ full-year accounts, PwC was paid £2.7m for its services in the year to 30 June, 2024.
In those results, it was also revealed that Hays went from making a pre-tax profit of £192.1m to just £14.7m. Its turnover also fell from £7.5bn to £6.9bn over the same period.
At the AGM, over 25 per cent of shareholders also voted against authorising Hays to allot ordinary shares in the company.
More than 20 per cent also voted against authorising the directors to disapply pre-emption rights.
All four decisions were approved despite the large number of votes against.
Recruitment crisis hitting giant Hays
In a statement issued to the London Stock Exchange alongside the AGM results, Hays said: “The board notes that over 20 per cent of votes cast were against the board’s recommendations in respect of resolutions 13, 16 and 17.
“The board will engage with shareholders in respect of these resolutions to ensure their views are understood.”
Speaking in August, Hays’ chief executive Dirk Hahn said that market conditions were “increasingly challenging… with low confidence levels and longer-than-normal “time-to-hire”.
Before announcing its full-year results, the FTSE-250 company had already warned it was set for a “subdued summer” due to expenses related to its cost-cutting drive designed to boost long-term profitability in a tough market.
The programme saw the company cut 15 per cent of jobs, restructure operations and improve efficiency.
In its accounts, group fees decreased by 12 per cent, while pre-exceptional operating profit decreased 46 per cent year on year £105.1m, impacted by “tough conditions in key markets”, the company said.