SThree fees crater amid ‘challenging market conditions’
City recruiter SThree saw fees drop 15 per cent over the last quarter as the group grappled with “challenging market conditions” within the job-seeking sector.
The London-listed firm, a specialist in finding roles for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics fields, saw declines across every arm and region of its business, it revealed in a quarterly trading update.
Performance was particularly poor in the UK, with fees dropping 30 per cent from £10m in the first quarter of 2024 to just £6.9m last quarter.
Meanwhile, the group’s contractor order book fell seven per cent year-on-year, though this was a reduced rate of decline compared to the decline throughout 2024.
Chief executive Tim Lehne credited the fall to “anticipated challenging market conditions driven by the ongoing global political and economic conditions”.
He added that performance for 2025 is still expected to be in line with its previously announced guidance of £25m in profit before tax.
SThree launched a £20m share buyback in December, and said today that £10.5m in stock had been purchased so far.
The buyback, along with a change in payment processes, has led its balance sheet to reduce substantially, falling from £70m at the end of November to £45m at the end of February.
Last month, HSBC reduced SThree’s target stock price from 420p to 365p, citing the potential that the rising chance of a recession could severely impact the firm’s business.
The firm’s stock price currently sits at 263p, down almost 10 per cent since the start of 2025 and more than 30 per cent in the last three years.
“As we look ahead, business leaders are continuing to navigate an evolving macro-economic backdrop which is weighing on investment decisions,” added Lehne.
“Despite this, we are highly confident, supported by independent industry analysis, that the future economy is based on hard-to-find STEM skills, and we are ensuring SThree is in the best place to deliver on this demand.”