FINANCIALS: Page confident in diverse hiring markets

International recruiter PageGroup says it is confident in its profitability given the scalable, small size of its specialist teams, as it further diversifies its geographical markets and industries.
Tue, 5 Feb 2013International recruiter PageGroup says it is confident in its profitability given the scalable, small size of its specialist teams, as it further diversifies its geographical markets and industries.

The recruiter has announced 2012 revenues dropping slightly compared to 2011’s total, down 2.9% to £989.9m – although when adjusted for currency fluctuations, this actually represents a small rise of 0.3%.

Gross profit, at £526.9m, dropped regardless of whether it was adjusted for constant currency (1.5%) or not (4.9%), while operating profit fell to £57.3m from £86m.

The group highlighted its expanding footprint, with 77% of gross profit generated outside the UK, compared with 61% five years ago, while 58% of gross profit was generated from non-finance and accounting disciplines, whereas it had been 46% in 2007.

“Our team-based structure and profit share business model is scalable,” the results announcement notes. “The small size of our specialist teams also means we can increase headcount rapidly to achieve growth. When market conditions tighten, these teams then reduce in size, largely through natural attrition.

“Having invested many years in training and developing our highly capable management teams our objective is to ensure we retain this expertise within the group. By following this course of action, we typically gain marketshare during downturns and position our businesses for market leading rates of growth when economic conditions improve.”

During 2012, the firm opened new businesses in Colombia and Morocco.

The UK operation of the group saw revenues fall by 8.9% to £295.6m, with the strongest performance in the UK coming from technical disciplines including supply chain, logistics, property and construction, technology, digital and energy.

In addition, 2012 also saw the recruitment giant rebrand to PageGroup.

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