15th Oct 2013 09:28
LONDON (Alliance News) - Recruitment firm Matchtech Group PLC Tuesday reported an increase in profit and revenue for the full year, as demand for skilled workers remained strong.
The company, which specialises in placing engineering and IT professionals with businesses, posted pretax profit of GBP9.9 million for the period ended July 31, up from GBP8.0 million a year earlier, while revenue increased 10% to GBP408.9 million from GBP371.4 million in 2012.
Matchtech said the sectors it supplies continue to have acute skills shortages and demand for contract labour has been strong.
Its said these two trends were major factors in seeing the number of contractors on assignment for the engineering division rise 10% to 5,500, from 5,000.
Overall, net fee income for the year increased 6.4% to GBP38.4 million, from GBP36.1 million, while permanent recruitment fees from continuing operations rose 4.7% to GBP11.2 million, from GBP10.7 million in 2012.
"The group has delivered excellent results with 37% growth in underlying earnings per share in the year," said Chief Executive Adrian Gunn said in a statement. Earnings per share, excluding GBP0.4 million in non-recurring restructuring costs, rose to 33.4 pence from 24.3 pence.
"Demand for contract staff remains strong and we are starting to see candidate confidence returning which should encourage growth in the permanent marketplace," Gunn added.
The company also announced that it had appointed Brian Wilkinson as Executive Chairman replacing George Materna. Wilkinson will start his new role on December 2.
Matchtech declared a final dividend of 12.75 pence, up 21% from 10.60 pence a year earlier, raising the total dividend to 18.00 pence from 15.60 pence previously.
The stock was trading at 510.00 pence Tuesday morning, up 12.50 pence or 2.5%.
By Anthony Tshibangu; [email protected]; @AnthonyAllNews
Copyright 2013 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
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