8th Apr 2014 11:00
LONDON (Alliance News) - Matchtech Group PLC Tuesday said first-half pretax profit increased by 43%, while the engineering recruitment agency said it expects results for the year to be slightly ahead of previous expectations.
In a statement, Matchtech said it made a GBP5.7 million pretax profit in the six months to January 31, compared with GBP4.0 million in the corresponding period a year earlier.
Revenue increased to GBP220.9 million, from GBP197.3 million, with net fee income up to GBP22.1 million from GBP18.5 million.
Revenue includes GBP5.5 million from Provanis, acquired in September 2013, which generated GBP800,000 in net fee income.
Administrative expenses increased to GBP15.9 million from GBP14.2 million.
"These results reflect the benefits of our longstanding leadership position in engineering, with the infrastructure, automotive and marine sectors experiencing particularly strong levels of activity. Our newer, but now well established Professional Service businesses, have also shown strong underlying growth and were further boosted by the acquisition of Provanis in September," Matchtech Chief Executive Adrian Gunn said in a statement.
"Demand for contractors remains high while the permanent marketplace continues its recovery, we are seeing increasing margins and an improving (net fee income) conversion ratio across the business. The integration of Provanis is going well as we focus on cross selling its services to our wider client base," Gunn added.
"Trading in the second half is progressing well and we continue to invest appropriately to support our ambitious growth plans."
Matchtech increased its interim dividend to 5.41 pence from 5.15 pence.
Matchtech shares were Tuesday quoted at 610.00 pence, up 1.0%.
By Samuel Agini; [email protected]; @samuelagini
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