Parity Group PLC (LON:PTY) shares were on the slide on Thursday as the recruitment firm swung to a loss in its latest full year and warned of “challenging” months ahead due to the coronavirus pandemic.
For the year ended 31 December, the AIM-listed firm reported a pre-tax loss of £1.06mln, swinging from a £358,000 profit in the prior year, while revenues declined to £80.4mln from £86.1mln.
Looking to 2020, Parity said it is “unable to forecast with any certainty” what its revenue and profit figures will be in light of the pandemic, although it added that the impact will be partly mitigated by cost savings made in 2019.
The company has instituted a 20% pay cut for all of its staff and directors over the three months from 1 April, adding that it is “confident” it has access to enough cash to trade its way through the period of uncertainty.
"The coming months will be challenging for our business, but our people have been fantastic in the way they have reacted to the evolving needs of our clients and contractors”, said chief executive Matthew Bayfield.
"The [coronavirus] pandemic has brought significant uncertainty to our business however all our staff are working remotely, enabling the business to remain fully operational. Our responsibility is to all stakeholders in these difficult times, we are committed to providing the best support we can to protect staff, contractors and clients”, he added.
Parity’s shares were down 7.4% at 6.6p in early trading.
