UK's Hays Plc on Thursday flagged tough conditions in its recruitment of permanent roles and said it was starting the search for a successor to its long-serving chief Alistair Cox.

The London-based recruiter, which largely focuses on white-collar roles, also reported a fall of about 5% in its operating profit for the six months ended Dec. 31 at 97 million pounds ($117.03 million), which was at the top end of its forecast range guided last month. ($1 = 0.8288 pounds) (Reporting by Aby Jose Koilparambil in Bengaluru; editing by Uttaresh.V)