Recruiting firm Hays' quarterly net fee growth slows

(Reuters) - Recruiting firm Hays Plc <HAYS.L> on Thursday reported a slower quarterly fee growth rate, hurt by a relatively stronger pound against other foreign currencies.

First-quarter net fee growth of 9 percent was below Jefferies' estimate of 11 percent, hurt by slower momentum in Germany and rest of the world, the brokerage said.

Jefferies cut the full-year earnings estimate by 2 percent to reflect the soft first quarter.

Hays reported a 3 percent growth in net fees from the UK and Ireland as the job market braces itself for Britain's planned exit from the European Union in March next year, with little clarity on how things will pan out.

Hays Chief Executive Officer Alistair Cox said the company's UK business continued to grow modestly, despite ongoing economic uncertainties.

The company, which places people across a range of industries from finance to construction, said net fees rose 7 percent on a reported basis during the first quarter, compared with a 13 percent growth in the year-ago quarter.

(Reporting by Muvija M and Noor Zainab Hussain in Bengaluru; Editing by Amrutha Gayathri)