3 September 2015 – interim results
The international specialist staffing group has announced interim results for the six months to 30 June and these have shown a 2% decline in revenue to £92.4m (2014: £94.0m) although at constant exchange rates revenue was actually 3% higher. Adjusted pre-tax profit was 33% higher at £2.8m (44% higher at constant currency rates) whilst adjusted earnings per share were 36% higher at 3.4p (2014: 2.5p). These are clearly strong results with permanent staffing revenue up 29% with temporary staffing revenue down 5%. Net debt fell by 30% to £9.9m (2014: £14.2m). The group continues to experience currency headwinds, notably in Continental Europe, Japan and Chile and these are likely to adversely affect second half results – however, based on the performance to date and the market opportunities that have been identified, the group believes that full year profits will be ahead of expectations. With these now likely to be £7.3m for earnings per share of 9.0p we re-iterate our recommendation of BUY.