ManpowerGroup 2004 Annual Report Download - page 26

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2004 Annual Report MANPOWER INC.24
Earnings for 2004 were $246 million – a record for Manpower – and a significant
increase of 78% from 2003. We also continued to strengthen our balance sheet,
with total debt as a percentage of capitalization improving from 39% in 2003 to
29% in 2004. Given our confidence in the future and our commitment to delivering
shareholder value, we also doubled our semi-annual dividend in the second half
of 2004.
All said, it was a very good year with impressive results for Manpower and its
family of companies. The sustainability of business performance, however, is our
benchmark for success, and we have proven that we have the ability, focus and
execution to deliver continued, sustainable results over time. Over the last five
years we have outperformed the S&P 500 by 43%. More importantly, each year
we have continued to establish new baselines against which to measure our
performance. As we move into 2005, we have set the bar even higher.
We believe that throughout 2004 we continued to build momentum, setting our-
selves up for 2005 and beyond. The heart and soul of our business is, and will
continue to be, temporary staffing, and that part of our business grew 20%. We
were able to open new offices in expanding markets like India, Japan, Germany
and Italy, extending our network to a total of more than 4,300 offices worldwide.
We also improved our efficiency and stayed very disciplined in our pricing strategy
in the temporary staffing marketplace.
LETTER TO SHAREHOLDERS