Interim Results

InterQuest Group plc

("InterQuest" or "the Group")

Interim Results

InterQuest Group plc (AIM: ITQ), the specialist recruitment business operating in the 'new digital economy', is pleased to announce its unaudited interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2016.

Financial highlights

§ Revenue down 9% to £73.8m (2015: £81.2m)

§ Net Fee Income ("NFI") down 10% to £11.0m (2015: £12.1m)

§ Adjusted PBT* down 44% to £1.4m (2015: £2.5m)

§ Net loss (after goodwill impairment of £3.2m) of £2.4m (2015: £1.6m profit)

§ Diluted adjusted earnings per share down 46% to 3.0 pence (2015: 5.5 pence)

§ Basic loss per share of 6.7 pence (2015: 4.7 pence earnings)

§ Net cash used in operating activities £2.9m (2015: net cash generated £2.8m)

§ Net debt, consisting of our working capital facility which we use to finance fluctuations in contractor levels, and cash increased during the period to £9.9m (2015: £6.9m)

§ Interim dividend of 0.5 pence per share to be paid on 16 November 2016 (2015: 1.0 pence)

§ Professional contract recruitment margins were up 90 bps to 17.6% (2015: 16.7%).

§ Contract recruitment margins on all deals (excluding payroll) increased 90 bps to 13.2% (2015: 12.3%)

*Adjusted for share based payment charge, amortisation, impairment and non-recurring items

Operational highlights

§ The average permanent fee per placement has increased by 4% to £6.8k (£2015: £6.5k) through developing a focus on senior roles and supporting our clients at the management and leadership level.

§ The Group has grown the Net Fee Income earned across the divisions through its Solutions clients by 42% to £1.6m (2015: £1.1m) through expanding on the previous services offered to our managed service clients and adding a further client taking the total to six.

§ The Group continues to focus on supporting our clients to overcome the staffing challenges presented by the digital economy and has made significant progress in developing innovative solutions for our clients.

Chris Eldridge, Chief Executive Officer, commented: "A root and branch reform has been necessary at our ECOM digital recruitment subsidiary which was acquired three years ago, requiring a non-cash impairment charge of £3.2m resulting in a total loss of £2.4m for the Group although before exceptional items the Group reported Adjusted PBT of £1.4m. We have now put the ECOM business on a firmer footing and I am confident it will make a significant contribution to the Group in the future. We are also encouraged by the progress we have made in our Solutions business and can take satisfaction from the fact that our contract recruitment margins and average permanent placement fees have increased which is evidence of the new initiatives we have been putting in place during the period.

Gary Ashworth, Chairman, commented: "The Group's results for the first half of 2016 are below our expectations at the start of the year, particularly in the ECOM brand and the Public Sector division, and were impacted by uncertainty in the UK market leading up to the EU referendum. Following a period of change, the new management team is in place and focused on progressing the Group strategy of expanding our reach in the digital economy and the further development of the Group's Solutions business. We have refocused or removed non profitable elements of the business which we believe will help profits in the medium / long term.

The recent acquisition of Rees Draper Wright on 3 August 2016 will also extend our geographic reach further into the strong markets of the US and Europe. On behalf of the Board I would like to thank all of my colleagues across the Group for their hard work and commitment through these times of change."

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Regulation (EU) No 596/2014.

Enquiries:

Chief Executive's Review

The challenges that digitisation cause industry show no signs of abating; in fact they are becoming progressively more challenging to overcome. InterQuest is uniquely positioned to support the recruitment demands of all businesses seeking to re-define their business model and how they take their services to a global market.

Through our ability to identify and build networks with professionals who possess scarce technical and leadership skills, InterQuest is able to provide a solution to our customers' most pressing issues.

During the first half of 2016 the Group's contractor numbers were affected at ECOM by a reduction in demand resulting from changes in buying behaviour and sector. Action has been taken to refocus the business and reverse the decline. In early 2015 the Group also benefited from a spike in demand from the Public Sector which, following the General Election, was not replicated in the first half of 2016.

During the first half of the year the business implemented a number of initiatives to drive the business further into the digital market and ensure that our clients are being offered a collaborative recruitment solution encompassing the breadth of the Group's specialisations. As part of this process the Group reviewed the markets being addressed and as a result focused on the sectors and disciplines that are seeing wage inflation and increasing levels of demand. The Group has looked to reduce levels of lower value business and aspire to move further up the value chain.

The Group continues to invest in market leading learning and development and has seen improvements across the business as a result.

On entering the second half of 2016 the business is well set for growth, and to capitalise on the opportunities in the Digital markets.

Average permanent recruitment fees were 4% higher in the first half of 2016 whilst contract recruitment margins on professional recruitment deals (those at margins over 12%) increased from 16.7% in 2015 to 17.6% in 2016. Contract recruitment margins on all deals (excluding payroll) increased to 13.2% from 12.3%.

The trading performance at ECOM, the Group's digital recruitment division, has been below expectations and has led to an impairment in goodwill for the Group amounting to £3.2m, set against the original investment in the acquisition of ECOM.

We are declaring an interim dividend of 0.5 pence (2015: 1.0 pence) and this will be paid on 16 November 2016 to shareholders on the register on 21 October 2016.

Although the first half of 2016 was challenging financially, this masks the significant operational progress we have made across a number of our key developmental objectives including growing our managed service business, enhancing the Group's learning and development capability, improving retention and enabling increased levels of cross selling. The leadership team looks forward to integrating the recent acquisition of Rees Draper Wright, benefiting from joint client development and building upon the platform in the US. We remain mindful of ongoing economic uncertainty and are taking steps to ensure that the Group is agile enough to respond to any changes that we may see in market conditions.

I would like to take the opportunity to thank all of our colleagues across InterQuest on the support they have given the new leadership team and commend them on their focus and commitment to delivering excellence for our clients and candidates.

Chris Eldridge

Chief Executive Officer

6 September 2016

Unaudited condensed consolidated interim statement of comprehensive income

All results for the Group are derived from continuing operations in the current period.

The accompanying notes form an integral part of this unaudited condensed consolidated interim report.

Unaudited condensed consolidated interim statement of financial position

The accompanying notes form an integral part of this unaudited condensed consolidated interim report.

Unaudited condensed interim statement of changes in equity

Unaudited condensed consolidated interim statement of cash flows

The accompanying notes form an integral part of this unaudited condensed consolidated interim report.

Notes to the unaudited condensed consolidated interim report

1 Nature of operations and general information

The InterQuest Group is a specialist technology recruitment business. The Group focuses on both permanent and contract recruitment across a range of sectors, specifically in high growth functions including digital, information security, analytics, telecommunications, change management and other high value niche markets. This is underpinned by an expanding capability in recruitment process outsourcing, helping our clients procure resources in a highly effective manner.

The Group's strategy is to continue to focus on those markets that are experiencing growth due to high demand for transformational technologies. We are witnessing acute skill shortages for technologies that will enable our clients to either augment or transform their operating model to capitalise on the new digital economy. This demand is having an upward impact on salaries as well as permanent and contract recruitment margins.

The Group's unaudited condensed consolidated interim report is presented in Pounds Sterling (£'000).

The unaudited condensed consolidated interim report has been approved for issue by the Board of Directors on 5 September 2016.

The financial information set out in this interim report does not constitute statutory accounts as defined in Section 434 of the Companies Act 2006. The Group's statutory financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2015 have been filed with the Registrar of Companies. The auditor's report on those financial statements was unqualified and did not contain a statement under Section 498 of the Companies Act 2006.

2 Basis of preparation

The unaudited condensed consolidated interim report is for the six months ended 30 June 2016 and has been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies as set out in the annual financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2015. The unaudited condensed consolidated interim report should be read in conjunction with the Group's annual financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2015, which have been prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS") as adopted by the European Union (EU).

The accounting policies have been applied consistently throughout the Group for the purposes of preparation of the unaudited condensed consolidated interim report.

3 Summary of significant accounting policies

The same accounting policies, presentation and methods of computation are followed in this unaudited condensed consolidated interim report as were applied in the preparation of the Group's annual financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2015.

Notes to the unaudited condensed consolidated interim report

4 Revenue and segmental reporting

For management reporting purposes the Group is organised into the following five divisions:-

1. Niche - comprising specialist recruitment practices focused on Analytics, Business Intelligence, Cyber Security, Internet of Things, Telecommunications, Business Change, Risk and Compliance which provide access to talent in some of the most critical areas of demand in the modern economy;

2. ECOM Recruitment Limited - the UK's leading recruiter in the digital market space which the Group acquired in November 2013;

3. Enterprise - comprising our Recruitment Process Outsourcing services together with legacy client relationships with significant customers in the financial services and retail sectors;

4. Public sector - focussed on the public sector and not for profit markets; and

5. Other - including the group sales function.

On 1 January 2016 the trade and assets of Mint Recruitment Solutions Limited were transferred to InterQuest Group (UK) Limited. Subsequent to the transfer the business is now continuing to trade under two trading divisions of InterQuest Group (UK) Limited; IQ Change, based in London, and IQ Digital, based in Manchester. In order that the 2015 segmental analysis may be comparable to the 2016 performance the Business Change division is now shown under the new 2016 structure in Niche.

All business units provide contract and permanent recruitment services and have similar economic characteristics and are considered to meet the aggregation criteria of IFRS.

Information regarding segment assets is not provided to the Group's chief operating decision maker. This is because the Group considers net fee income (gross profit) and profitability for the purpose of making decisions about allocation of resources.

Six month period to 30 June 2016

Notes to the unaudited condensed consolidated interim report

4 Revenue and segmental reporting (continued)

Six months to 30 June 2015

There are no external customers who individually represent more than 10% of the entity's external revenues during the six month period ended 30 June 2016 and 30 June 2015.

The Group does not report items below EBITA by segment in its internal management reporting.

Notes to the unaudited condensed consolidated interim report

5 Income tax expense 

Notes to the unaudited condensed consolidated interim report

6 Earnings per share

The calculation of the basic earnings per share is based on the earnings attributable to ordinary shareholders divided by the weighted average number of shares in issue during the period/year.

The calculation of diluted earnings per share is based on the basic earnings per share, adjusted to allow for the issue of shares and the post-tax effect of dividends and/or interest, on the assumed conversion of all dilutive options and other dilutive potential ordinary shares.

Reconciliations of the earnings and weighted average number of shares used in the calculations are set out below.

7 Impairment of goodwill

On 26 November 2013, the Group acquired 100% of the share capital of ECOM Recruitment Limited ("ECOM"), the UK's leading digital technology recruitment business for a total consideration of up to £7.04 million.

At 30 June 2016 the Board conducted a review of the carrying value of the intangibles and goodwill associated with the business of ECOM and as a result of that review the goodwill has been impaired by £3,152k which has been treated as a non-recurring item in the period. The carrying value of the goodwill at 30 June 2016 is £1,710k.

8 Subsequent events

On 3 August the Group acquired 78% of the share capital of RDW-RD Limited ("RDW"), a boutique executive search firm for blue chip clients, with the right to acquire the remainder of the shares in RDW.

The wholly owned subsidiaries of RDW, Rees Draper Wright Limited and Rees Draper Wright Inc operate from offices in London and New York.

The total consideration agreed was:

As part of the total consideration, InterQuest issued 728,000 new ordinary shares to the vendors on completion. The outstanding interests in RDW are subject to put and call arrangements with the vendors, which can be exercised up to 18 October 2016 on the same terms. Assuming that this option is exercised, a further 205,333 new ordinary shares will be issued in due course.

9 Interim report

This report will also be available from the Company's registered office and on Company's website www.interquestgroup.com.