Pre-close Trading Update

RNS Number : 3396D

Matchtech Group PLC

28 January 2015

 



28 January 2015

Matchtech Group plc

Pre-close Trading Update

Matchtech Group plc (the "Group"), one of the UK's leading specialist engineering and professional services recruitment companies, today provides the following Pre-close Trading Update for the six months ending 31 January 2015.

Since our last update on 14 November 2014 we have continued to see strong demand in the UK and worldwide for skilled engineers. The Board believes that the Group is well placed to continue to benefit from this demand due to its market leading position, balanced business model of Contract and Permanent recruitment and our niche focus within the engineering and technology sectors.

The Board expects the results for the full year to be in line with its expectations.

Net Fee Income ("NFI")

NFI in the first half of FY 2015 to 31 January 2015 was up 2% compared to the same period last year.

NFI performance is analysed as follows:

	H1 2015	H2 2014	H1 2014		H1 v H1
	£m	£m	£m		%
Engineering	14.1	13.8	13.3		+6%
Professional Services	8.4	9.1	8.8		-5%
Total Group	22.5	22.9	22.1		+2%
Weeks in period (No.)	24.2	25.0	24.2
Average weekly NFI	0.93	0.92	0.91		+2%

The business mix remained the same as the previous year, with Contract NFI accounting for 72% and Permanent Fees 28% of total NFI in the period.

Contract NFI

Contract NFI of £16.2m was 2% up on the same period last year.

Contract NFI performance is analysed as follows:

	H1 2015	H2 2014	H1 2014		H1 v H1
	£m	£m	£m		%
Engineering	11.3	11.6	11.0		+3%
Professional Services	4.9	5.3	4.9		-
Total Group	16.2	16.9	15.9		+2%
Weeks in period (No.)	24.2	25.0	24.2
Average weekly fees from Continuing Operations	0.67	0.68	0.66		+2%
Contractors on assignment at end of period (No.)	7,100	7,200	7,000		+1%

Engineering has seen continued strong demand for contractors, particularly within Infrastructure and the Power & Nuclear markets, whose NFI is £0.6m and £0.3m higher respectively than the same period last year. This increase has been somewhat offset by a £0.2m reduction in NFI within Maritime following the closure of shipbuilding at Portsmouth Naval Base as well as a £0.5m reduction in NFI in Oil & Gas.

Permanent Fees

Permanent Fees of £6.3m are up 2% compared with the same period last year.

Permanent fee performance is analysed as follows:

	H1 2015	H2 2014	H1 2014		H1 v H1
	£m	£m	£m		%
Engineering	2.8	2.2	2.3		+22%
Professional Services	3.5	3.8	3.9		-10%
Total Group	6.3	6.0	6.2		+2%
Weeks in period (No.)	24.2	25.0	24.2
Average weekly fees	0.26	0.24	0.26		-%

Demand for permanent staff from our customers within the Engineering segment continues to improve, with NFI up 22% on last year, including 60% growth in Infrastructure, 40% in General Engineering and 25% in Maritime.

The 10% decline in the Professional Services segment was due to an underperformance in Professional Staffing, with NFI down 13% compared with the same period last year with penetration into the Group's non-core markets proving challenging. Technology NFI was broadly similar to the same period last year.  

Headcount

Headcount at the end of each period can be analysed as follows:

	H1 2015	Change	H2 2014	Change	H1 2014
Engineering	193	+13	180	+26	154
Professional Services	118	-16	134	-13	147
Sales Headcount	311	-3	314	+13	301
Shared Services	114	+6	108	-4	112
Total Headcount	425	+3	422	+9	413

During 2014 and H1 2015 we invested to accelerate growth in our Engineering business through increased consultant headcount, with the reduction in Professional Services headcount reflecting the underperformance in Professional Staffing (as noted above) and delivering improved productivity in Technology.

The Group intends to release its Interim Results for the period ending 31 January 2015 on 9 April 2015.

For further information please contact:

Matchtech Group plc	01489 898989
Brian Wilkinson, Executive Chairman
Tony Dyer, Chief Financial Officer
Numis Securities Limited	0207 260 1000
Michael Meade / James Serjeant
Newgate - Financial PR	0207 680 6524
Rob Newman / Andrew Jones / Ed Treadwell

 

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