PageGroup posts record June as firm benefits from wage inflation and short supply of candidates
Recruitment firm PageGroup posted a record performance for June, marking the second month where gross profit exceeded £100m.
Group gross profit hit £280.9m, up 25.5 per cent compared to the second quarter of 2021.
UK gross profit grew 22.6 per cent in the quarter, while India and Latin America lead the way in growth, up 40 and 47 per cent respectively.
Greater China continued to feel the impact of COVID-19 lockdowns and restrictions, scuppering growth in the region.
PageGroup Chief Executive Officer Steve Ingham said: “This performance was achieved despite the backdrop of macro-economic and geo-political uncertainty as well as continued COVID-19 restrictions in certain markets.
We believe that our strategy of maintaining and investing in our platform throughout the pandemic; by investing in experienced hires; and focusing on technology and innovation, has been key to us achieving these outstanding results.”
Ingham added that the British firm benefited from wage inflation and increased fee rates as a result of high demand and a short supply of candidates.
PageGroup expects 2022 full year operating profit to be in line with company consensus of £205m.
Analysts at HSBC backed the company’s growth, and said it showed “little sign of slowing”.
“In terms of order intake, interviews completed and scheduled, and time to hire, there are no signs of a slowdown or impending recession. Other
than the effects of the Zero COVID-19 policy currently affecting mainland China, the business is growing rapidly and experiencing less of a slowdown in growth rates than we had expected prior to market fears of a looming recession”, they said.
HSBC gave the share a target price of 820p.