Recruiter PageGroup PLC (LON:PAGE) finished 2016 with a flourish, enjoying a record quarter of gross profits.
The company said operating profit for the year just ended is expected to be at the top end of market forecasts, which range from £91mln to £100.6mln.
Shares rose 4% to 409p on the news.
The fourth quarter saw gross profit rise 3.8% on a constant currency basis to £163.4mln from £135.8mln the year before. Using actual exchange rates, profits rose 20.3%.
Gross profit from permanent placements rose 5% on a constant currency (CC) basis to £122.4mln from £100.5mln the year before, while profit from temps rose 0.4% (CC) to £41.0mln from £35.3mln.
Full year gross profit was a record at £621mln, up 3.0% on the prior year.
It was full steam ahead for the business in all regions in the final quarter … except for the UK, where gross profit fell 6.7% to £33.8mln from £36.2mln the year before.
“In the UK, client and candidate confidence levels deteriorated further, with activity levels also reduced. Challenging market conditions also continued in several of our other larger markets, particularly Brazil and Financial Services, notably in New York,” revealed Steve Ingham, the chief executive officer of PageGroup.