ManpowerGroup Inc. MAN reported impressive fourth-quarter 2023 results, with earnings and revenues beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate. The better-than-expected earnings, however, failed to impress investors as the stock price has stayed unchanged since the earnings release on Jan 30.

Quarterly adjusted earnings of $1.45 per share surpassed the consensus mark by 19.8%. The bottom line, however, declined 30.3% year over year, mainly due to restructuring costs and Argentina-related non-cash currency translation losses.

Revenues of $4.63 billion surpassed the consensus mark by 1.5% but declined 3.7% year over year on a reported basis. Revenues fell 5% on a constant-currency (cc) basis.

Segmental Revenues

Revenues from America of $1.07 billion were in line with our expectations but tumbled 9.1% year over year on a reported basis and 4.5% at cc. In the United States, revenues reached $702.3 million, lagging our estimate of $713.3 million and declining 14.3% year over year. In the Other Americas subgroup, revenues of $372.3 million surpassed our projection of $365.7 million and inched up 2.7% on a reported basis and 17.7% at cc.

Revenues from Southern Europe of $2.11 billion beat our prediction of $2.03 billion and improved marginally on a reported basis. Yet, the metric fell 4.1% at cc.

ManpowerGroup Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

ManpowerGroup Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | ManpowerGroup Inc. Quote

Revenues from France were $1.21 billion, beating our estimate of $1.18 billion. The reading was up 1.2% on a reported basis. Nonetheless, the same was down 4.1% at cc.

Revenues from Italy amounted to $415.1 million, beating our forecast of $400.8 million. It improved 0.6% on a reported basis. However, the measure contracted 4.6% at cc.

The Other Southern Europe sub-segment generated revenues of $487 million, which outshined our expectations of $449.9 million. It declined 1.4% year over year on a reported basis. The reported figure was down 3.7% at cc.

Northern Europe revenues declined 6.1% on a reported basis and 10.1% at cc to $913.7 million, lagging our estimate of $923.5 million. APME revenues totaled $552.2 million compared with our expectation of $541.5 million. The figure was down 4.5% on a reported basis and 2.7% at cc.

Operating Performance

The company registered an operating loss of $39.5 million, down by more than 100% year over year on a reported basis and a current currency basis.

Key Balance Sheet & Cash Flow Figures

ManpowerGroup exited the quarter with a cash and cash equivalent balance of $581.3 million compared with the prior quarter’s $571.1 million. Long-term debt was $990.5 million compared with $948.5 million in the preceding quarter.