Financial jobs boom to fade
City recruiter Michael Page saw its first-half global profits rise 31 per cent but warned the slowdown in UK recruitment looks set to continue.
The global firm posted group half year profits of £135.5m, up from £90.4m last year. Its UK division, which contributes a third of the group’s gross profits, delivered a 3.9 per cent increase in profit to £95.6m.
It said the credit crunch had affected mostly banking recruitment, with London and Tokyo the worst hit.
Any gains made had been offset by the “continuing weakness” in the banking and related sectors, the company said in a statement.
“Outside of these areas, we continue to experience good job and candidate flow. However, there is increasing cautionary behaviour being shown, both by candidates and clients,” it added. It plans to reduce its headcount through “natural attrition” over the rest of the year.
The company said it was confident on the outlook for the remainder of the year. Barclays Wealth analyst William Hobbs said there was “considerable risk to forecasts as the economy slows” given that the shares trade on 8.5 times forecast earnings.
