LONDON (dpa-AFX) - Staffing firm Michael Page International Plc. (MPI.L, MPGPF.PK) Tuesday reported lower gross profit for the first quarter, amid tough economic conditions and weak market confidence across all its regions.
In an interim management statement, the firm said its gross profit fell 6.7 percent to 126.8 million pounds from last year's 135.9 million pounds. On a currency-neutral basis also, the drop was 6.7 percent.
Steve Ingham, Chief Executive, said, 'The Group reported gross profit of £127m, up 0.2% on the fourth quarter, although down 6.7% year-on-year against a strong comparative performance. This robust result was achieved despite continuing tough economic conditions and weak market confidence across all our regions.'
Gross profit from permanent recruitment fell 7.7 percent to 98.3 million pounds while gross profit from temporary recruitment was 28.5 million pounds, down 3.1 percent from the previous year.
All disciplines showed middle-digit gross profit declines. According to the company, the challenging market conditions impacted broadly all disciplines to a similar degree. Retail, Procurement and Supply Chain and Legal produced the best performances.
Geographically, gross profit dropped 13.8 percent in the Europe, Middle East and Africa or EMEA, representing 41 percent of group gross profit, as market conditions remained challenging throughout the quarter.
Businesses in France and Germany, where the firm operates predominantly in permanent recruitment, experienced another challenging quarter.
Gross profit edged down 1.2 percent in the UK. The region now represents 24 percent of PageGroup's gross profit, with the strongest performances seen in the Property & Construction, Engineering, Digital, Energy and Public Sector businesses.
Asia Pacific and Americas showed drops of 0.7 percent and 1.4 percent, respectively. Michael Page noted that market conditions in Australia became significantly more challenging in the quarter, due to a slowdown in the Mining and Resources sector.
In the Americas, Brazil continued to be impacted by the slowdown in the economy and exchange rates. Year-on-year growth rates at constant rates of exchange were around 9 percent higher than on a reported basis.
Even as activity levels remained strong in the quarter, the difficult trading conditions are continuing in several markets and the company sees a challenging second quarter.
MPI.L closed down 1.9 percent on Monday at 397.30 pence.
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