24th Oct 2024 11:55
(Alliance News) - Gattaca PLC on Thursday said annual profit fell more than 60% in its recent financial year, amid "challenging markets", but it noted this decline was "slightly ahead of market expectations".
The Whitely, England-based staff recruiter for companies in the technology and engineering sectors said pretax profit for the financial year that ended July 31 was GBP1.7 million, falling 61% from GBP4.4 million the year before.
Revenue increased 1.9% to GBP389.5 million from GBP382.1 million, but net fee income, similar to gross profit, slipped by 5.0% to GBP40.1 million from GBP42.2 million.
What's more, administrative expenses rose 0.8% to GBP39.0 million from GBP38.7 million the year before, reducing operating profit by 69% to GBP1.1 million from GBP3.5 million.
Gattaca declared a full-year dividend of 2.5 pence. This was down from 5.0p in 2023, though the 2023 payout included a special dividend of 2.5p.
Gattaca said its results were hurt by macro-economic headwinds that "continue to impact demand and candidate sentiment". It said the market for permanent recruitment remained "subdued", and the company has focused on contractor growth during the year, which it said takes longer to be reflected in net fee income.
It expects profit to be second-half weighted in in financial 2025, and anticipates underlying pretax profit for financial 2025 in line with previous guidance of GBP3.0 million.
Underlying profit in financial 2024 was GBP2.9 million, down 22% from GBP3.7 million last year.
Gattaca remains "optimistic" for the company's future, and said it has taken "proactive measures" against current market conditions, including increased market focus, cost control initiatives and operational streamlining.
Chief Executive Officer Matthew Wragg said: "The group has delivered underlying pretax profit slightly ahead of expectations in challenging markets, we have entered financial 2025 with momentum in our contractor base and expect the permanent market will remain tough in the next financial year. We believe that the sectors in which we operate and the [science, technology, engineering, and mathematics] skill sets that we provide have the right long-term fundamentals for success. We are improving as a business week-on-week and expect to continue to grow market share as we make further progress next year. I am very excited about the direction we are going and what that means for all our stakeholders for the years to come."
Shares in Gattaca were down 7.3% at 82.50 pence each in London on Thursday morning.
By Emily Parsons, Alliance News reporter
Comments and questions to [email protected]
Copyright 2024 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.