Trading has been ‘worse than anticipated’ for executive search firm Garner in its interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2009.

The group made a loss after tax of £672,000 (2008: profit of £20,000) based on an increased turnover of £3,431,000 (2008: £1,259,000).  The result has been a group loss per share of 0.95p (2008: earnings per share 0.05p).

The revenue increases on the same period in 2008 was driven by the recent combination of the Garner and Norman Broadbent businesses.  Comparing like with like, turnover from continuing operations fell by 22% to £984,000 (2008: £1,259,000).

The statement continues: “Management have identified and executed a number of cost-saving initiatives to streamline the business, the impact of which will not be fully realised until the last quarter. We have had to incur additional restructuring expenses that have added to the pressure on the bottom line.

“Once this programme is completed, these one-off costs will total £200,000. However, on a more positive note, they are expected to result in annualised cost savings of approximately £1.5m across the group.

“While trading has stabilised in the third quarter, economic conditions remain challenging and our first year as the enlarged group will be worse than we could have anticipated.  Despite this, we continue to be positive about the acquisition of Norman Broadbent and we believe that we will be well placed to grow once trading conditions improve.”