USG People Q1 oper profit beats, cost cuts help

AMSTERDAM, April 27 (Reuters) - Dutch staffing firm USG People reported a better-than-expected first-quarter operating profit and said cost cuts had helped to improve its profitability.

USG People said in a statement its earnings before interest, tax and amortisation (EBITA) and excluding some special one-off charges was 19.1 million euros, beating the average forecast of 14.4 million euros in a Reuters poll of three analysts.

"The improvements we implemented in our organisation in 2011 result in a considerable rise in profit," said Rob Zandbergen, chief executive of USG People. (Reporting by Gilbert Kreijger; Editing by Sara Webb)