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DATE

Thu, Oct. 15, 2026

CALL PARTICIPANTS

• Chair and Chief Executive Officer - Jonas Prising
• Chief Financial Officer - John Thomas McGinnis
• President and Chief Strategy Officer - Becky Frankiewicz

TAKEAWAYS

• Reported Revenue -- $4.8 billion, growing 6% year over year on an organic constant currency basis.
• System-wide Revenue -- $5.3 billion, reflecting the company's expanded franchise revenue base.
• Adjusted EBITDA Margin -- 2.2%, representing a 10 basis point year-over-year expansion on a constant currency basis driven by SG&A optimization.
• Adjusted EPS -- $1.10, reaching the midpoint of management guidance despite a $0.01 negative impact from share dilution.
• Manpower Brand Revenue -- growing 7% year over year on an organic constant currency basis as demand conditions stabilized.
• Experis Brand Revenue -- remaining flat on an organic constant currency basis, representing an improvement from a 2% decline in the second quarter.
• Talent Solutions Revenue -- increasing 1% year over year on an organic constant currency basis driven by improvements in RPO and MSP.
• Americas Revenue -- $1.2 billion, representing a 14% increase year over year on an organic constant currency basis driven by strong performance in the U.S. and Latin America.
• United States Revenue -- $729 million, growing 9% on an organic days-adjusted basis compared to the prior year.
• U.S. Manpower Brand -- increasing 15% on a days-adjusted basis, marking the ninth consecutive quarter of growth.
• U.S. Experis Brand -- growing 4% on an organic days-adjusted basis, shifting from flat growth in the second quarter due to increased IT and services demand.
• Southern Europe Revenue -- $2.2 billion, increasing 2% on a constant currency basis despite headwinds in France.
• France Revenue -- $1.1 billion, declining 2% on a constant currency basis reflecting political uncertainty and manufacturing volatility.
• Italy Revenue -- $483 million, growing 5% on a days-adjusted constant currency basis as the business maintains market leadership.
• Northern Europe Revenue -- $861 million, increasing 6% on a constant currency basis led by strong growth in the U.K. and Germany.
• APME Revenue -- $515 million, growing 4% on a constant currency basis reflecting stable performance in Japan.
• Cost Savings Target -- $200 million in permanent annual savings by 2028, supported by front-office and back-office transformation programs.
• Adjusted SG&A Expense -- declining 2% on a constant currency basis, representing $6 million in operational cost reductions.
• Free Cash Flow -- a net outflow of $17 million, compared to an inflow of $45 million in the prior year, due to the timing of MSP business payments.
• Net Debt -- $870 million at quarter end, with a total gross debt to trailing 12-month adjusted EBITDA ratio of 2.6.
• Capital Expenditures -- $9 million during the quarter, focused on technology and transformation initiatives.
• Q4 Revenue Guidance -- projected growth of 3% to 7% on a constant currency basis, with a midpoint of 5%.
• Q4 EBITDA Margin Guidance -- expected to expand 20 basis points year over year at the midpoint.
• Q4 EPS Guidance -- estimated between $1.03 to $1.13 based on a neutral foreign currency impact and a 44% effective tax rate.

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RISKS

• McGinnis stated that "Permanent recruitment activity came in slightly softer than expected in France and select other markets," contributing a 10 basis point reduction to gross margin.
• McGinnis noted that "Right Management declined during the quarter on lower outplacements," as layoff activity slowed globally.
• McGinnis warned that slightly higher weighted average shares due to "dilution associated with the increase in the share price" had a negative $0.01 impact on adjusted EPS.

SUMMARY

ManpowerGroup Inc. (MAN -15.82%) reported third quarter results that management identified as a strategic inflection point, supported by strengthening demand in the U.S. and key European markets. The company announced that Becky Frankiewicz will succeed Jonas Prising as Chief Executive Officer on Jan. 1, 2027, with Prising transitioning to the role of Executive Chair. Management reported that commercial staffing momentum remains strong, particularly within the Manpower brand, while the Experis technology business returned to growth in the U.S. during the quarter. The company remains focused on a multiyear transformation program aimed at removing structural costs and leveraging AI to improve internal efficiency and candidate screening. Management projected continued revenue growth and accelerated EBITDA margin expansion for the fourth quarter, supported by stable staffing margins and ongoing cost discipline.

• Management reported that AI-enabled talent screening has reached 70% of revenue, improving fill rates and accelerating the time to hire across markets like Italy and the U.S.
• The company expanded its strategic transformation from the U.S. into the U.K., focusing on redesigning sales and recruitment processes to lower the permanent cost structure.
• Becky Frankiewicz stated, "We believe one of our greatest competitive advantages is our ability to combine talent technology, and trusted partnerships at scale."
• Management deepened partnerships with AWS, SAP, and Microsoft to support client cloud and AI transformations, which have begun to drive commercial impact and share of wallet gains.
• CFO McGinnis noted that September and early October trends in France indicate an improving trajectory compared to the third quarter overall, supported by manufacturing PMIs rising above 50.
• The company maintained a disciplined capital allocation strategy, prioritizing balance sheet strength and debt reduction over share repurchases in the immediate term.

INDUSTRY GLOSSARY

• Constant Currency: A method of reporting financial results that eliminates the effects of foreign exchange rate fluctuations to show underlying performance.
• Days-Adjusted: A revenue metric that accounts for differences in the number of billing days between reporting periods.
• Experis: ManpowerGroup's specialized brand focused on technology talent, data governance, and AI implementation services.
• MSP (Managed Service Provider): A service where a company manages a client's contingent workforce program, including supplier management and compliance.
• OUP (Operating Unit Profit): A measure of segment-level profitability before corporate expenses and taxes.
• RPO (Recruitment Process Outsourcing): A service where an employer transfers all or part of its permanent recruitment processes to an external provider.
• TAPFIN: ManpowerGroup’s dedicated brand for managed service provider (MSP) solutions.

Full Conference Call Transcript

Operator: Welcome to ManpowerGroup's Third Quarter Earnings Results Conference Call. You will be put into listen only mode until the question and answer time begins. This call is being recorded. If you care to drop off now, please do so. I would now like to turn the call over to ManpowerGroup's chair and CEO, Mr. Ronan Prising. Sir? You may begin.

Ronan Prising: Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us for our third quarter 2026 conference call. Our Chief Financial Officer, Jack McGinnis and our president and chief strategy officer, Becky Frankiewicz, are both with me today. For your convenience, our prepared remarks are available in the Investor Relations section of our website at manpowergroup.com. I will begin with the leadership news we announced this morning. Followed by a brief overview of the quarter. Becky will then discuss our results in more detail, provide an update on our transformation and highlight the opportunities we are capturing with AI. Jack, will then walk through the detailed financial results and our guidance for the fourth quarter of 2026.

I will close with a few comments before we open the line for Q and A. Turning to Jack, who will cover the safe harbor language.

John Thomas McGinnis: Morning, everyone. This conference call includes forward looking statements, including statements concerning economic and geopolitical uncertainty. Which are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties. These statements are based on management's current expectations or beliefs. Actual results might differ materially from those projected in the forward looking statements. We assume no obligation to update or revise any forward looking statements. Slide 2 of our earnings release presentation further identifies forward looking statements made in this call and factors that may cause our actual results to differ materially, and information regarding reconciliation of non GAAP measures.

Ronan Prising: Thank you, Jack. Before we turn to today's results, I would like to begin with the leadership transition we announced this morning. I am delighted to share that as part of the board's long term succession planning, Becky Frankiewicz will become our next chief executive officer. And to join ManpowerGroup's board of directors effective 01/01/2027. And at that time, I will transition to the role of executive chair. This transition reflects our commitment to leadership development, building world class talent from within, and the strength of our executive team. Becky and I have worked closely together on ManpowerGroup's ongoing transformation, And I have seen firsthand the exceptional leadership strategic perspective, and deep commitment that she brings to our company.

Becky knows our business inside and out. Through her leadership of our North America region and oversight of our global strategy and commercial performance, she has helped position ManpowerGroup for its next era of transformation innovation, and profitable growth. At the same time, her broad leadership experience brings a fresh perspective that will continue to strengthen the company's future direction. I am confident Becky brings the experience judgment, and enterprise perspective to lead ManpowerGroup into its next chapter. And I look forward to working closely with her to ensure a seamless transition and supporting her in my role as executive chair. Now with that, let's turn to the quarter.

We delivered yet another quarter of solid performance, reflecting the strong traction we are building, and representing another important step forward. The progress we have made reinforces our confidence that 2026 is an inflection point for the business, both as we realize the benefits of the strategic actions that we have taken over the last several years and as demand continues to improve. 3 key areas of strength stand out this quarter. The Manpower brand continues to deliver very strong results and gain share. Particularly in The U. S. The experience and talent solutions brands performance both improved from the previous quarter.

And alongside that commercial momentum, we are making meaningful progress on our transformation agenda, and remain confident in our commitment to deliver $200 million in permanent cost savings in 2028. I will now cover the consolidated performance before Becky goes deeper into our brand performance regional highlights, and provides an update on our transformation and commercial strategy. We continued to see top line momentum in the quarter, delivering reported revenues of $4.8 billion representing organic constant currency growth of 6%. System wide revenue, including our expanded franchise revenue base, was $5.3 billion We know where we focus we win.

We continue to leverage our scale and global footprint and have focused on commercial efforts in the markets verticals, and opportunities where demand is strongest and where we have a clear opportunity to win and capture profitable share. Adjusted EBITDA margin was 2.2%, Continued revenue growth, together with disciplined capacity management, and continued SG&A optimization, resulted in improved operating leverage with 10 basis points of year over year margin expansion on a constant currency basis. Gross margin in the quarter reflected stable staffing margin from the previous quarter and a slightly softer permanent recruitment trend notably in France. As well as lower right management outplacements volumes as layoff activity slowed in Q3.

We continue to actively shape our business toward higher value opportunities where we are most differentiated. Our leadership team remains focused on executing against the current demand environment, while positioning the company for the opportunities ahead. Simultaneously, our transformation remains on track against the objectives we laid out earlier this year. The path forward for ManpowerGroup is clear. We believe that the inflection point we predicted is evident in our performance. As we build momentum across the business with continued strength in manpower, further recovery in Experis and Talent Solutions, and meaningful progress on our transformation, including cost reduction initiatives, we are very well positioned to deliver incremental growth and greater operating leverage over time.

Now, let me turn it over to Becky.

Becky Frankiewicz: Thank you, Ronan. I want to start by thanking you for your leadership and the partnership we have shared. I appreciate the confidence you and the board have placed in me. It is a privilege to take this organization forward into our next chapter. ManpowerGroup has a strong legacy and a clear purpose. This is what drew me to this company and remains the foundation for our future. We see significant opportunities to accelerate our human first digital always approach to deliver our strategy, expand our AI capabilities, and create even greater value for our clients, our candidates, and our shareholders.

As I prepare to step into the role of chief executive officer, we will continue to turn strategic vision into action. Driving strong performance and positioning the company for even greater long term success. Now turning to our third quarter performance. We are successfully executing our strategy, which is unlocking commercial momentum. Growth is broadening across our brands and geographies. While our expanded digital capabilities are helping us win new clients and deepen existing relationships. Together, these drivers are strengthening our competitive position and reinforcing our confidence in the long term opportunity ahead. Within our Manpower brand, we delivered another very strong quarter. With ongoing revenue growth as demand conditions continue to strengthen.

Commercial staffing remained very positive, while professional staffing returned to growth during the quarter. Providing another indicator of momentum across the business. In The US, manpower gained market share through new logos and expansion of wallet within existing clients. Delivering our 9th consecutive quarter of growth with double digit revenue growth and improved profitability. We saw continued solid demand across consumer goods notably food manufacturing, and logistics, as well as opportunities tied to automation and reshoring which are driving demand for specialized technical talent. Outside The US, we saw encouraging performance across several of our European markets. Northern Europe accelerated from the previous quarter led by strong growth in The UK, and double digit growth in Germany.

Driving significant year over year improvement in regional profitability, while Italy continued to execute well and maintain market leadership. Experis, our technology, talent, and services business, saw improving trends globally, with U.S. Experis crossing to growth in the quarter. This marks an important inflection in performance, and we are encouraged by improved conditions in activity across financial services, health care, and energy as clients continue to invest in data governance, AI implementation, and cloud optimization. Our human plus AI strategy is also gaining commercial traction. Contributing to pipeline growth deal wins, and higher-margin opportunity. This marks an important inflection in performance. We are encouraged with the improvement we are seeing.

In Talent Solutions, the revenue trend improved from the second quarter. We continue to sharpen our focus across all our talent solutions lines of business, right management, TAPFIN MSP, and RPO, responding to the growing needs of global clients by further strengthening how we serve multinational accounts, creating a more seamless and consistent experience across markets. This is already creating the conditions to expand share of wallet with global clients by delivering greater business impact and stronger workforce outcomes. Our momentum is not only being driven by improved demand, it is also being fueled by the actions we have taken to transform the business and position ourselves for long term growth.

We remain on track to deliver on our target permanent annual cost savings in 2028. Our recent efforts have been focused on the front office, at delivering greater speed and driving efficiencies through scale. In The US, the program is advancing in line with our expectations. As we continue to redesign our sales and recruitment processes. We are now taking the next step by extending the program to The UK on our path to scaling to the rest of the world. As we scale, our focus remains on creating a more efficient operating model. Lowering our cost to serve, and improving productivity. While giving our teams both the tools and greater capacity to delight clients candidates, and capture new growth.

Across all 3 brands, we are increasingly using AI, to improve internal efficiency, and to create differentiated value for clients and candidates while unlocking new growth opportunities. We continue to expand our AI enabled talent screening capabilities extending our scale across key markets, including Italy and The US in Q3. Now reaching 70% of our revenue. Improving fill rates while accelerating time to hire and enhancing the candidate experience. We believe 1 of our greatest competitive advantages is our ability to combine talent technology, and trusted partnerships at scale. By building a broad ecosystem of industry leading partners we are bringing clients integrated solutions that accelerate their workforce, digital, and AI agendas.

In an environment where clients are increasingly seeking outcomes, rather than activity, our ability to connect talent, technology, and business transformation for greater impact will become a powerful differentiator. Last quarter, I spoke about our work with SoundHound AI and IBM Watson x Orchestrate. Since then, we have continued to deepen partnerships across Europe with organizations, including AWS, SAP, and Microsoft. Helping clients accelerate cloud, data, and AI transformations. These partnerships are beginning to create tangible commercial impact. Increasing share of wallet, and deepening our integration into client transformation programs. Overall, we are encouraged by the progress we are seeing as our strategy comes to life across the business. And we remain confident in the opportunities ahead.

I will now turn it over to Jack to discuss our financial performance.

John Thomas McGinnis: Thanks, Becky. The third quarter, we delivered reported revenues of $4.8 billion. System wide revenue, including franchises, was $5.3 billion. Our third quarter revenue results represented constant currency growth of 5%. Which came in at the midpoint of our guidance range. Gross profit margin came in at 15.9%. As adjusted, EBITDA was $107 million, representing a 14% increase on a constant currency basis compared to the prior year period. As adjusted, EBITDA margin was 2.2%, up 10 basis points year-over-year and came in at the midpoint of our guidance range. Organic days adjusted constant currency revenue increased 6% in the quarter, which came in at the midpoint of our guidance driven by our Manpower business. Turning to the EPS bridge.

Reported earnings per share for the quarter was $0.71. Adjusted EPS was $1.10 and came in at the midpoint of our guidance range. Walking from our guidance midpoint of $1.10, our results included better operational performance of $0.01 and a slightly higher weighted average shares in the quarter due to dilution associated with the increase in the share price which had a negative $0.01 impact, Restructuring costs and strategic transformation program costs represented $0.27, and a U. S. Jefferson Wells sale related item represented a $0.03 negative impact. Next, let's review our revenue by business line. Year over year, on an organic constant currency basis, the Manpower brand had strong growth of 7% in the quarter.

Very close to the 8% growth in the second quarter. The Experis brand revenue trend was flat, an improvement from the 2% decline in the second quarter. The Talent Solutions brand was up 1% year over year, an improvement from the second quarter result of flat. Within Talent Solutions, our RPO business continued sequential revenue trend improvement from Q2 and crossed over to slight growth in the quarter. Our MSP business saw continued solid revenue growth while Right Management declined during the quarter on lower out placements. Looking at our gross profit margin in detail, our gross margin came in at 15.9% for the quarter.

Staffing margin was stable from the second quarter, and on a year over year basis, represented a 50 basis point reduction reflecting mix shifts year over year. This is an improvement from the 60 basis point decline in the second quarter. Permanent recruitment activity came in slightly softer than expected in France and select other markets, and drove a 10 basis point decline. Right management career transition within Talent Solutions contributed a 10 basis point reduction as outplacement activity decreased in the quarter. Moving on to our gross profit by business line. During the quarter, the Manpower brand comprised 65% of gross profit. Our experienced professional business comprised 19% and talent solutions comprised 16%.

Our consolidated gross profit grew by 1% on an organic currency basis year over year a continuation of the 1% increase in the second quarter. Our Manpower brand grew 5% in organic constant currency gross profit year over year stable from the 5% increase in the second quarter. Gross profit in our Experis brand decreased 2% in organic constant currency year over year a significant improvement from the 6% decrease in the second quarter. Gross profit in Talent Solutions decreased 2% in organic constant currency year over year, which was an improvement from the 4% decrease in the second quarter. The improvement in trend was driven by RPO and MSP.

Bright Management saw a gross profit decline in the quarter on decreased outplacement activity. Reported SG&A expense in the quarter was $685 million SG&A as adjusted was down 2% on a constant currency basis. The year over year constant currency decreases largely consisted of reductions in operational costs of $6 million. Dispositions represented a decrease of $5 million, while currency changes contributed to a $3 million decrease. Adjusted SG&A expenses as a percentage of revenue were represented 13.7% on a constant currency basis in the third quarter. Adjustments represented restructuring and strategic transformation program charges of $16 million and a U. S. Jefferson Wells disposition charge of $2 million.

Balancing gross profit growth with strong cost controls while funding ongoing transformation to enhance EBITDA margin in both the short and long term remains 1 of our highest priorities. The Americas segment comprised 26% of consolidated revenue. Revenue in the quarter was $1.2 billion, representing an increase of 14% year-over-year on an organic constant currency basis. As adjusted, OUP was $52 million and OUP margin was 4.2%. Restructuring charges of $3 million represented actions in The US. The US is the largest country in the Americas segment. Comprising 58% of segment revenues. Revenue in The U. S. was $729 million during the quarter, representing a 9% organic days adjusted increase compared to the prior year.

OUP as adjusted for our U. S. Business was $29 million in the quarter. OUP margin as adjusted was 4%. Within The US, the Manpower brand comprised 31% of gross profit during the quarter. Revenue for the Manpower brand in The US increased 15% on a days adjusted basis during the quarter. This marks 9 consecutive quarters of growth and a continuation of strong performance from the 16% increase in the second quarter. The Experis brand in The U. S. Comprised 37% of gross profit in the quarter. Within Experis in The US, substantially all the revenues represent IT and services. Experis US revenue was up 4% on an organic days adjusted basis during the quarter.

An improvement from the flat result in the second quarter. Talent Solutions in The U. S. Contributed 32% of gross profit and saw a 5% increase in revenue year over year in the quarter. Reflecting a stable rate of growth from the second quarter driven by ongoing solid growth in RPO and strong growth in MSP. This was partially offset by declines in right management on lower outplacement activity in the quarter. Overall, The U. S. Had strong organic revenue growth in the third quarter, and we expect solid mid single digit percentage growth in the fourth quarter. Southern Europe revenue comprised 46% of consolidated revenue in the quarter.

Revenue in Southern Europe was $2.2 billion, representing 2% growth on a constant currency basis during the third quarter. As adjusted, OUP for our Southern Europe business was $69 million in the quarter and OUP margin was 3.1%. Restructuring charges of $5 million represented actions taken in France. France revenue equaled $1.1 billion and comprised 51% of the Southern Europe segment in the quarter, and was down 2% on a constant currency basis. As adjusted, OUP for our French business was $27 million in the quarter. Adjusted OEP margin was 2.4%. France revenue trends were slightly lower in the third quarter but the trend improved during the quarter.

Based on trends in September and into early October, we expect a slightly improved year over year revenue trend in the fourth quarter. Revenue in Italy equaled $483 million in the third quarter, reflecting an increase of 5% on a days adjusted constant currency basis. OUP as adjusted, equaled $27 million and OUP margin was 5.7%. Our Italy business is executing well and leads in the market. We estimate a similar revenue rate for the fourth quarter. Our Northern Europe segment comprised 18% of consolidated revenue in the quarter. Revenue of $861 million represented a 6% increase on a constant currency basis. OUP was $8 million in the quarter.

This represents year over year OUP improvement during the last 4 quarters reflecting the significant actions taken in the past. Our largest market in Northern Europe segment is The UK. Which represented 33% of segment revenues in the quarter. During the quarter, The UK saw strong growth with revenues increasing 7% on a days adjusted constant currency basis. Germany had very significant growth during the quarter, and the remaining countries in the region progressed as expected with largely stable to improving revenue trends. The Asia Pacific Middle East segment comprises 10% of total company revenue. In the quarter, revenues equaled $515 million representing an increase of 4% on a constant currency basis.

OUP was $24 million and OUP margin was 4.6%. Our largest market in the APME segment is Japan, which represented 57% of segment revenues in the quarter. Revenue in Japan grew 3% on a days adjusted constant currency basis, and we expect a similar level of revenue growth in the fourth quarter. I will now turn to cash flow and balance sheet. In the third quarter, free cash outflow was $17 million, compared to free cash flow of $45 million in the prior year. Free cash flow was negatively impacted by the timing of MSP business payments at the end of the third quarter and will have a positive impact in the fourth quarter.

Excluding the quarter end MSP items, free cash flow would have been a positive inflow of $75 million. We expect very strong free cash flow in the fourth quarter. At quarter end, day sales outstanding was 59 days, flat from the prior year. During the third quarter, capital expenditures represented $9 million, and we did not repurchase any shares. Our balance sheet ended the quarter with cash of $233 million and total debt of $1.1 billion. Net debt equaled $870 million at quarter end, which was relatively stable from June 30. Our debt ratios at quarter end reflect total gross debt to trailing 12 months adjusted EBITDA of 2.6 and total debt to total capitalization at 34%.

Detail of our debt and credit facility arrangements are included in the appendix of the presentation. Next, I will review our outlook for the fourth quarter of 2026. Our revenue guidance estimates ongoing solid growth in the fourth quarter. On a constant currency basis, this range is between a 3% increase and a 7% increase, and at the midpoint, is a 5% increase. Higher business days this year and the impact of dispositions adjust our organic days adjusted constant currency revenue growth estimate to 4% at the midpoint. We anticipate stable underlying staffing margin into the fourth quarter and estimated GP margin of 15.9% at the midpoint.

EBITDA margin for the fourth quarter is projected to be up 20 basis points year over year at the midpoint compared to the prior year. This represents an improvement from the run rate EBITDA margin expansion of 10 basis points in the first 3 quarters of 2026. We estimate that the effective tax rate for the fourth quarter will be 44%. We are forecasting earnings per share for the fourth quarter to be in the range of $1.03 to $1.13. We estimate our weighted average shares to be 48.3 million. The slightly higher share count is driven by the impact of our share price appreciation on the diluted share calculation over the last 3 months.

The guidance range assumes a neutral foreign currency impact and our foreign currency translation rate estimates are disclosed at the bottom of the guidance slide. And we will continue to carve out any restructuring and global strategic transformation program costs as they are not included in the underlying guidance.

Ronan Prising: I will now turn it back to Ronan. Thank you, Jack. I am pleased with our performance in Q3. Which reflects continued progress across the business. Demand conditions continue to stabilize, and strong commercial execution translated into healthy organic revenue growth. At the same time, disciplined cost management helped us convert that growth into stronger operating performance. As we enter Q4, we remain focused on executing against the opportunities ahead advancing our transformation and driving sustainable profitable growth. I know you will join me in congratulating Becky on her appointment as our next CEO.

I look forward to working closely with her in this next chapter And to speaking with all of you on my last earnings call in January 2027. As always, thank you to our talented team for their relentless focus and to our candidates and clients for your continued partnership. With ManpowerGroup. Operator? Please open the line for questions.

Operator: Thank you. If you would like to ask a question, please press 1-1. If your question has been answered and you would like to remove yourself from the queue, press 1-1 again. Our first question comes from Andrew Steinerman with JPMorgan. Your line is open.

Andrew Steinerman: Hi. Congrats, Becky. My question for the team is about Manpower France. You really did a good job of helping us understand what the trends were in the quarter. But why does Manpower Group revenues dip in France, and does it seem like this country might be on a different recovery trajectory than the other kind of more favorable trajectories that we see in the major countries.

Ronan Prising: Thanks, Andrew. Yeah. And you point out the market volatility, in France because we are performing at the top of the market. We beat, our peers in the second quarter. Too early to say what it looks like in the third quarter. As you can see from the news, there is, you know, some political uncertainty, elections coming up, and all kinds of things. But I would say, overall, we have been very successful at targeting areas, that show opportunity and that commercial agility and that focus is what allows us to stay on top of the market.

And that is what we are going to continue to do, find the opportunities where they are and then execute with a very strong team and very strong and experienced team, in France that is managing the business really well. But I think broadly speaking, as you point out, we have been very encouraged see the strong trends in a number of our European countries. You can see The UK improving. You can see Germany improving. Poland's very strong. Norway's strong. Spain is strong. So we are really seeing a broadening of improvement in Europe overall, and thanks to that, our diversification, our strong portfolio and our commercial momentum, we can really offset some of those bumps on the road.

But we remain confident in France as being a strong market overall.

Andrew Steinerman: Right. And just as a follow-up, then the October trends improved year over year in France. What you know, what caused that? I mean, I believe the political uncertainty that you are talking about is still the case.

Ronan Prising: Yeah. that is true. But you could see a bit of volatility in June. In July and August, but then strength in September, that is really the basis for outlook into October and for the fourth quarter as well because you will have noticed that we are guiding to a slightly better performance and improved performance for France in the fourth quarter. Jack, maybe you have some additional comments?

John Thomas McGinnis: Yeah. I would just add, Andrew, that if you look at manufacturing PMI, the low point was July. So July for France dipped just below 50. That was the weakest part of the quarter for us, and then it improved in August. And September as well above the 50 level. So, really, I would say that was it. As we exited the quarter, we saw improvements. And that is really why I mentioned that we have an improving trend from the third quarter trend into the fourth quarter. And it is really based on what we are seeing here at the end of September into early October, a better trend than the 3Q overall trend.

Andrew Steinerman: That makes good sense. Thank you very much.

Ronan Prising: Thanks, Thank you.

Operator: Our next question comes from Mark Marcon with Baird. Your line is open.

Mark Marcon: Hey. Good morning. Ronan, it is been a pleasure working with you over the years. So congratulations on your next step. And, Becky, congratulations to you. I have a couple of questions related to the leadership transition. 1 is this kind of, like, why now? And then secondly, Becky, for you, how come. You know, you have been the president and chief strategy officer, I think you guys have been signaling you know, that this transition eventually would occur. And, Becky, you were clearly positioned as Ronan's successor. How committed are you to what you announced back in April with regards to the transformation plan and the ability to, you know, raise the margins you know, materially.

And in addition to that, you know, to get the significant savings. We were basically looking for over 100 basis points of margin improvement So just wondering if there is any change to the plans that you outlined back in April in terms of the transformation And how confident are you that we can accomplish those?

Ronan Prising: Well, Mark, first of all, thank you very much. it is been a--it is been a great journey, and I have to say I am very, very excited about Becky taking over the leadership of the company. This has been a really, thoughtful, well prepared transition driven by the board. The board has been planning this together with us and you know, it builds on a story and a culture of continuity, talent development, and a very strong leadership team. So I am, you know, very excited for what is to come, very pleased with what we have accomplished so far, but knowing that, you know, very bright things are ahead for us in the future under Becky's leadership.

Becky Frankiewicz: Thanks, Jonas. Thanks, Mark. So a couple of things. As you mentioned, I took over president and chief strategy officer about a year and a half ago. So I have been working very closely with Ronan, Jack, and the whole leadership team on the strategy and specifically on the transformation and the commitment that we made back in April. And I would say we are pleased. The strategy is working. We are delivering strong year to date performance. We have commercial momentum. Fully committed to the commitment that we made. Again, it was part of the architect behind that. To deliver our cost savings.

Think the opportunity now is to go faster and deeper focus on speed to market, creating better insights, lowering our cost structure, and, you know, most importantly, delivering increased shareholder value. that is what you will see from me. But are you committed to being able to accomplish the 110-basis points of margin improvement Fully committed. Great.

Mark Marcon: And then just 1 follow-up question. Jack, I appreciated the comments with regards to the PMIs, but when we take a look at diesel prices and interest rates in France, You know, are not you concerned that there may end up being some sort of a you know, a bit of a negative impact on the PMIs, and therefore, industrial sentiment in France? And maybe that is a question for Ronan and Ronan knows France so well.

Ronan Prising: Well, you know, we are always monitoring market conditions. And many things can change. But from what we are seeing today, from what our, clients are telling us, and from what employers are doing, The labor market remains stable. We have strong commercial focus on the opportunities as we see them. And, you know, if things change, we are used to being agile and changing and going after opportunities where else they may they may lie. But as you can tell from what we are seeing today, employer confidence despite the volatility in France remains solid in France. And, you know, if that changes, we change. But right now, we do not see that happening.

And, you know, we are we are we are confident in, you know, France as an overall market. And we will adjust as we need. Just as we have done many times in the past. Great. Thanks, and congratulations to both you and Becky.

John Thomas McGinnis: Thank you.

Becky Frankiewicz: Thank you, Mark. Thanks, Mark.

Operator: Thank you. Our next question comes from Andy Grobler with BNP Paribas. Your line is open.

Andy Grobler: Hi, good morning. Yes, Becky. Congratulations. And Ronan, good luck with the with the next part of your of your journey. I just wanted to ask about the U.S. Actually, that is the manpower brands grew 15%. In the quarter. I wondered if you were beginning to see any broadening out of that strength and recovery from the large clients within Manpower to the rest of your operations within the country. Thank you.

Becky Frankiewicz: Yeah, Andy, I will take that 1. Thank you first. So we are very pleased with the strength of the Manpower business in The U. S. As you heard me talk about, we are 9 quarters of growth in the market. Led by the Manpower business. To your question, we have seen a broadening of that growth across more clients. We are winning new logos. Our pipeline is robust, and we are continuing to see the expansion of that growth into our convenience. Clients. And so we feel really good about the Manpower US business and the leadership of that team.

Also heard me say, Andy, that we saw the Experis business turn to growth this quarter, which was encouraging, and Talent Solutions continues strong performance in The US. So we feel like The US is leading the recovery of the market and, again, led by manpower.

Andy Grobler: And if I could just ask 1 follow-up on Right Management, which was a headwind to group gross margins in the quarter. To what extent is Right running at activity levels above average and therefore as markets recover, assuming that they do for now, that, right, could be a headwind to group gross margins through the next few quarters.

John Thomas McGinnis: Andy, this is Jack. I will take that 1. So I would say, you know, what we have really been seeing from Right Management over the last 2 years is revenue momentum on restructuring activity. Right? And what we started to signal last quarter was that was slowing down So really beginning last quarter, we saw right management start to inflect to revenue declines. And we are talking modest level of declines for right management. And that continued again this quarter and a little bit more of a decline.

But the way I would look at it is if we look at that over you know, the long run, what we typically see is when the staffing businesses are doing very well, we see restructuring activity and layoff activity coming down. And, basically, that is what is playing out for us now. So, you know, as you can see, even though there is still reports, of course, of restructurings that are happening, More broadly speaking, as you look at the labor markets, we are seeing restructuring activity decreasing. And that is coming through in right management. So year over year, they are going to have a smaller contribution. But the good news is that translates to staffing momentum.

And that is what we have been seeing on the commercial staffing side basically, and that continuing, as Becky just referred to. We are encouraged by what we are seeing on the professional staffing side. Particularly in The US. That could be some early momentum building into the future as well. So that is the way I would look at it. I, you know, I would say, the right management contribution is lower on those declines. But I think it is manageable at this time. Okay.

Andy Grobler: Thank you very much.

Operator: Thank you. Our next question comes from Kartik Mehta with Northcoast Research. Your line is open.

Kartik Mehta: Hey. Good morning. I wanted to ask you a little bit about Experis. Obviously, seeing. Starting to see some momentum. And I am wondering how much of the growth is related to recovery of IT spending, versus companies spending on AI projects and if you think that the momentum Experis is seeing is now something that could carry into 2027 based on spending patterns by your customers? Yeah.

Becky Frankiewicz: Kartik, hi. it is Becky. I will speak to Experis. Yeah. So what we would say is we are seeing both. You said is it being driven by tech spending or AI projects? Increasingly, the answer to that is both, because they are increasingly converging. And so we are seeing. And you heard in The US, when we improved globally, but The US has had a strong quarter. We are seeing a bit of employer confidence start to signal spend in starting these AI infrastructure projects specifically We are hopeful that expands. Again, we have seen it start in The US, and we are encouraged that it will expand globally.

Kartik Mehta: Thanks, Becky. Jack, just a follow-up on capital allocation. You are expecting a strong fourth quarter and obviously, a strong free cash flow. When do you think you are. The company would be comfortable enough that you could start repurchasing shares again? Thanks.

John Thomas McGinnis: Kartik, for the question. Yeah. I would say 1 step at a time on that specifically. I think we are. We feel really good about the momentum we have been building on, you know, continuing to strengthen the balance sheet. We have seen that. You see our net cat. Our net debt level pretty much in line with where we ended the second quarter again here in the third quarter. So all of that is, you know, is very encouraging. We are definitely on a much stronger track. And we are gonna continue to do that.

I think we have a great track record when it comes to capital allocation You have seen that in the past in terms of the dividend and share repurchases. And I would say as we continue this momentum, you should expect that will return. I think the timing at this stage we will just have to, you know, continue quarter by quarter continuing to strengthen. And then in the future, we will talk more about that. But I think right now, the priority is just continuing to strengthen the balance sheet. And for that reason, there has not been any share repurchases in the last quarter or so. And I would not expect any in the very immediate future.

But I do think if this continues, we will be talking about that in not too distant future as the momentum continues.

Kartik Mehta: Perfect. Thank you.

Operator: Thank you. Our next question comes from Trevor Romeo with William Blair. Your line is open.

Trevor Romeo: Good morning. Thank you for taking the questions and I will also say congrats to both Becky and Ronan. So first, I just had kind of a broad revenue growth question. So I think consolidated year over year growth has been accelerating for several quarters, and this quarter, was more like steady, and the guide kind of reflects steady going forward as well. So I guess my question is, is you know, 6 ish percent organic constant currency kind of where you see growth topping out? In this kind of recovery? Or do you have confidence that consolidated growth can accelerate or continue to accelerate as the recovery progresses here?

John Thomas McGinnis: Thanks, Trevor, for the question. Well, I would say, no. I do not think we see this as a limit or a top out. I think what you are seeing is really strong momentum on the commercial staffing side But as Becky and Ronan both talked about, you know, as we have been seeing this recovery play out, it is being led by commercial. that is been driving the 6% organic constant currency But as professional and talent solutions and predominantly perm and RPO kick in, that will drive it further from that point. So as Becky mentioned, we are really encouraged by experience in The US flipping to the 4% growth.

In the third quarter as we saw the commercial take place. It was led by The US. The US started, and then we saw key markets in Europe follow. And we do not know exactly the timing of how that is gonna work on the professional and on the perm side, but we are seeing early signs. That, you know, as we showed the quarter-over-quarter progression for both Experis and Talent Solutions, We are making progress quarter over quarter, and that is how the manpower progress started, if we go back a number of quarters. So that is going to continue to give us momentum when professional and talent solutions see more acceleration. And we will.

We have a great opportunity to go above the 6% organic growth as we go forward.

Trevor Romeo: Thank you, Jack. that is helpful and quick follow-up. I know you have had a couple of questions on France already, but what is the latest at this point you are kind of hearing on the large business tax for years after this year just with the, you know, the debt situation and the budget there?

John Thomas McGinnis: So on France budget, it is a timely question. They are going through the process now of trying to advance the draft budget. I think the real answer is it is really too early to tell. It needs to go through full parliament review There has been discussion about reducing the surcharge into next year. But I would say it is really premature to call it at this stage. I think we need the government to continue to advance their deliberations regarding the budget overall. And we will when there is more certainty around it, we will be able to comment more.

But at this stage, it is it is still a bit uncertain, and we need that process to play out a bit further.

Trevor Romeo: Okay. Thank you very much.

Operator: Thank you. Thank you. Our next question comes from Manav Patnaik with Barclays. Your line is open.

Ronan Kennedy: Hi. Good morning. This is Ronan Kennedy on for Manav, Thank you for taking our questions. First and foremost, congrats to you both, Ronan and Becky. You closed the call by highlighting improving demand, strong commercial execution. And disciplined cost management, and then also benefits from the transformation. As we think about exiting 2026 and building into 2027, which factors give you the greatest confidence in incremental earnings growth, and where do you see the greatest opportunity?

Becky Frankiewicz: Yeah. Thank you, Ronan. I will take that. I think we have demonstrated a couple of things this year in terms of our strategy and really architecting a future where we can grow in any environment. So first, I would say our agility that we have honed this year on shifting ourselves into verticals where there is growth and profitable growth that we can serve. Gives me a lot of confidence You know, right now, we are focused on closing 2026. With great results, and so that is what gives me confidence. Really, our commercial activity and our strategy that is starting to show results in the market.

Ronan Kennedy: Got it. Thank you. And then, 1 on gross profit margin, if I may, please. I think the 4Q guide assumes that it will remain around that 15.9%. But year over year, EBITDA margin expansion accelerates 20 basis points. From a 10 basis point run rate in the first 3 quarters. Can you please walk through the drivers of that stronger conversion? As Experis, RPO and convenience businesses continue to improve? Whether that creates a better exit rate setup for the operating leverage into 2027?

John Thomas McGinnis: Yes. No. Ronan, thank you for the question. So yes. Absolutely. Operating. Or the EBITDA projection for the fourth quarter is expansion 20 basis points year over year. And that does compare to a run rate of 10 basis points for the first 9 months. So we are building momentum What you are seeing there is stable staffing margin. As I commented, staffing margin was stable from Q2 into Q3. And we are we are projecting it to continue to be stable in Q4.

What that means is we have been talking about the enterprise mix shift that is largely worked its way through, and you see that in the stable GPU margin for the second half of the year here. what is also happening is you are gonna see some seasonal improvement in GP dollars. You know, the third quarter does include the August holiday month. So quarter over quarter, you are gonna be seeing stronger GP margin dollars in countries like Italy, and others that are impacted by, the European holidays.

And, you know, the fourth quarter always is a little tricky when it comes to the month of December because in a weak environment, we will see bigger shutdowns in terms of manufacturing production and so forth. And this year, we are really projecting more of a stable environment. And for that reason, GP dollars will be strong in the fourth quarter. And all of that combined with ongoing really strong cost dynamics. That is gonna allow us to pull that 20 basis points of improvement on the EBITDA line year over year in the fourth quarter. So really, are the main factors, more of the same with stability on the staffing margin side.

Operator: Thank you. Our next question comes from Josh Chan with UBS. Your line is open.

Josh Chan: Hi. Good morning, and congrats, Ronan and Becky as well. Maybe tacking on to the prior question, I guess, it is pretty impressive to have SG&A down while you grow revenue. So could you talk about, you know, what is driving that? And then, you know, ultimately, how sustainable that is kind of you know, into next year?

John Thomas McGinnis: Yeah. Thanks, Josh. And absolutely, we are very proud of that. I would say, you know, we have actually been demonstrating the building blocks of that for many quarters. So we took a lot of very difficult actions in the prior year. As we looked at what was happening in demand in many of those markets. We are on the other side of that now. From a demand side as we talked about the commercial staffing recovery. But we continue to hold the line on costs. that is what the transformation's all about. So we have talked about the back office transformation, which we started a few years ago.

We have talked about the fact that is paying fruit this year. We see the positive impact of that. And you have seen us start the front office transformation this year in The US, and as Becky said, is now going on in The UK as well.

So all of these actions are all about reducing our permanent cost structure, and we are starting to see that as well as the other actions we have taken before the front office transformation continuing to result in a cost trend that is manageable And as we take on revenue growth, we do not need to increase the level of our cost base as we have in the past based on all the work that we have done. In that regard. So that is really what is driving this. And as we go forward, you should expect that we are gonna continue to be, you know, continue that discipline around the cost line.

And as the transformation takes hold, as we have laid out in the multi year plan, we will start to see the benefits of that as we go forward into future years. And that will be part of the revenue momentum continuing with costs continuing to be a key area of focus for reducing a permanent cost structure. So you should expect that to continue.

Josh Chan: Okay. Great. Yeah. that is great to hear. Thank you. And then on The Americas, very strong growth again. I think the guidance does imply a little bit of a deceleration in Q4. And I think if I heard you right, Jack, you said mid single digits in The U. S. So I guess what is driving the lower year over year growth potentially going into the fourth quarter?

John Thomas McGinnis: Yeah. Josh, I would not read too much into that candidly. What I would say is as we look at the growth of the businesses and the underlying demand in associates on assignment, that continues to be very strong going into the fourth quarter. What you are really seeing there is a little bit of the year over year impact of very strong growth on an overall basis. In the year ago period for the overall organization. And, you know, I would say Latin America is probably a part of that as well. Which had extremely strong growth. So very proud of our Latin America business and our Latin America team.

Which has really been driving a lot of that Americas growth. I think that is really working in. But I think the main takeaway is the underlying momentum in the business continues from Q3 into Q4 and some of that is really more the anniversary impact.

Josh Chan: Okay. Great. Thanks for the color and the time.

Operator: Thank you. Our next question comes from Tobey Sommer with Truist. Your line is open.

Tobey Sommer: I was wondering if you could talk about Germany and where you are seeing demand there. The rebound in sort of a bench country would. Seems to be fairly important in the margin progression here over the near to medium term.

Ronan Prising: Yes. We have been very pleased with the progress that we are seeing. As we have heard during the call, in Europe overall and specifically in Germany. As you know, we have taken some significant actions in years past, and they are now starting to pay off, and that we are seeing some good progress in our commercial momentum. And maybe, Becky, you can give a little bit more color on that.

Becky Frankiewicz: Yeah. Thanks, Ronan. So this is a perfect example, actually, of our intention around focusing on verticals where we believe we have the right relationship and capabilities to deliver. And so we have disclosed in this past, automotive has a big piece of our business there, and we have been very fortunate to grow with select clients in that market.

Tobey Sommer: And if I could ask you about your sort of realignment program So do you think that from a competitiveness standpoint that you will emerge from on the other side of this, Will you be more competitive with relative to your larger your larger competitors? And sort of be able to achieve margins at. EBITDA margins at lower gross margins than them. As a result of the heavy lifting and work that you have underway?

Ronan Prising: You know, I think overall, we are building a business that is resilient, agile, and can win in any market circumstance, thanks to our diversification between the brands, such a geographical diversification, our increased commercial focus and momentum our transformation efforts, and, you know, our strategy. So, you know, whether it is big or small, you know, we are not too focused on anyone in particular. We know our job as Becky had said earlier, is to create shareholder value improve our operating leverage and move towards our long term financial objectives on the top line and on the bottom line. And I feel really good about the progress we have made so far.

And as we have evidenced in 2026, we early on said 2026 is going to be an inflection year. I think our results demonstrate that is in fact the case. And we feel really good about how we are positioned in this environment, and how we are positioning the company for future progress in years to come. So you can expect us to be very competitive, in all aspects, thanks to our global scale diversification and our transformation as well. Thanks, Ronan and Becky. Good luck on the transition.

Becky Frankiewicz: Thank you.

John Thomas McGinnis: Thank you.

Operator: Thank you. This concludes the question and answer. I would like to turn the call back over to Ronan.

Ronan Prising: All right. Thank you, everyone, for all your questions. And we look forward to speaking with you again. This concludes this quarter's earnings call, and we look forward to speaking with you again for our Q4 earnings call at the beginning of next year. Thanks, everyone, and have a great rest of the week.

Operator: Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.