* Says financial services recruitment picking up
* FY pretax profit slumps 43 percent, meets forecasts
* Holds dividend at 5.80 pence
* Shares down 1 percent, trimming losses
(Adds company, analyst comment, shares, details)
By Rhys Jones
LONDON, Sept 3 (Reuters) - Hays, Britain's biggest recruitment firm, said the British jobs market is stabilising, boosting hopes the UK is beginning to emerge from recession after a tough year in which the firm's profits tumbled.
Hays, whose largest markets are Britain and Australia, on Thursday posted a pretax profit of 151 million pounds ($244.2 million) for the year to the end of June, down 43 percent but meeting market expectations.
Like-for-like net fees fell 18 percent to 670.8 million pounds as firms across the world cut jobs to offset the fallout from the economic slump, but Hays said the pace of decline had eased in some markets, especially the UK, in recent weeks.
"For last three months it's been quite stable in a number of sectors in the UK but it's too early to call a recovery," Chief Executive Alistair Cox told reporters on a conference call.
"We're seeing some early signs of life in UK financial services with organisations starting to hire again in areas such as risk, compliance and insurance, while banks are taking on more front office and operational staff."
Hays' main UK rival, Michael Page, reported a flat second quarter profit last month and said the rate of decline had slowed in Britain, though the country's unemployment rate hit a 13-year high in August.
The world's biggest staffing firm, Switzerland's Adecco, recently posted a 31 percent drop in second-quarter sales.
DIVIDEND UNDER PRESSURE?
Hays, whose revenues fell 4 percent to 2.44 billion pounds, placed 50,000 people in full-time jobs and found part-time work for some 270,000 in the past 12 months.
It held its total dividend at 5.80 pence after cutting its debt by around 82 million pounds during the year, but analysts think next year's handout could be smaller.
"Hays should have decent gearing on the upside, although we don't think a held dividend is a forgone conclusion for next year, so we remain cautious," said Panmure analyst Mike Allen.
Shares in Hays, which have jumped 45 percent so far this year, were down 0.9 percent at 98.9 pence by 0927 GMT, trimming early losses and valuing the group at around 1.4 billion pounds.
British net fees fell 27 percent during the year but Hays' public sector unit was resilient, thanks to strong performances in healthcare and education, it said. Net fees from permanent placements fell 29 percent from last year, while temporary fees fell 7 percent.
In Asia Pacific, Hays' annual profit fell 26 percent, while in Europe and the rest of the world it dropped 16 percent.
"Many European markets are still deteriorating but we think it will be our largest region in 10 years. There are some big, immature markets there in terms of using recruitment agencies so we see huge, long-term opportunities there," said Cox.
Unemployment in the euro zone seems likely to break through the 10 percent mark before long, after climbing to a 10-year high of 9.5 percent in July, but the U.S. lost fewer private sector jobs in August than in the prior month, suggesting modest improvement in the U.S. labour market.
Hays, which cut a fifth of its own staff in 2008 to protect margins, said it had reduced its headcount by a further 26 percent during the year after closing 48 offices.
($1=.6183 Pound)
(Editing by Hans Peters, John Stonestreet)