Working capital

We have developed a standardized procedure for managing receivables, which was in place in all countries we operated in during 2007. Constant focus and sharing of best practices have resulted in a substantial improvement in Days Sales Outstanding (DSO) over a five-year period, as the moving average of DSO came down from 57 days to 52.

Furthermore, the system, in which we charge our operating companies 10% for the use of operating working capital, has creeated a clear understanding of the cost of capital and the need to focus on economic profit.

With the acquisition of Vedior the overall Group DSO increased to around 59 days due to the fact that Vedior had a DSO of around 65 days. (Q2 2008) The latter is due to the difference in the geographic spread between Randstad and Vedior.

At holding level someone has been made responsible for further aligning the debt collection process on a global scale. This should help further reduce Group DSO.

Besides our internal processes there are external items that can influence the DSO. The French government set a rule early 2009 where companies, active in France, have to pay their bills in 60 days. This will have a positive impact on our French DSO. Due to the difficulties the global economy faced up till Q1 2009, clients are pushing to increase payment terms. This might have a negative impact on our DSO.

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