Final Results

RNS Number : 4370W

SThree plc

28 January 2013

 



SThree plc

("SThree" or the "Group")

Final results for the year ended 25 November 2012

SThree, the international specialist staffing business, is today announcing its final results for the year ended 25 November 2012.

Financial Highlights

	2012	2011	Change
Revenue	£577.5m	£542.5m	+6.5%
Gross Profit ('GP')	£205.3m	£195.5m	+5.0%
Operating profit	£25.1m	£30.0m	-16.3%
Profit before taxation ('PBT')	£25.3m	£30.3m	-16.6%
Basic earnings per share	14.1p	16.8p	-16.1%
Proposed ordinary final dividend	9.3p	9.3p	-
Total ordinary dividends (interim plus final)	14.0p	14.0p	-
Special dividend	-	11.0p	-

Operational Highlights

·      A satisfactory performance given the deteriorating macro-economic backdrop as the year progressed;

·      Continued sector diversification, with non-ICT disciplines now representing 46% of total GP (2011: 40%);

·      Strong performances from Energy & Engineering (+48%*) and, Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology (+39%*), which together now account for 33% of Group GP;

·      Non-UK&I share of GP increased to 65% (2011: 63%), with the trend expected to continue as the Group becomes ever more international;

·      New offices opened in Oslo, San Diego, Rio de Janeiro and Brisbane, bringing the Group total to sixty four offices in eighteen countries;

·      Split of contract versus permanent GP remixes to 50%:50% (2011: 48%:52%);

·      Total Group headcount at year end decreased by 3.7% to 2,188 (2011: 2,272), although average Group headcount up 9.4%;

·      Group remains in a strong financial position, with year end net cash and term investments of £28.3m (2011: £55.6m) after payment of the special dividend of £13.2m in December 2011;

·      Gary Elden appointed CEO with effect from 1 January 2013, as previously announced.

*at constant currency

Gary Elden, CEO, commented: "As we enter 2013, macro-economic conditions remain uncertain.  In this environment, the benefits of the Group's balance of contract and permanent business, and the success of its geographic and sector diversification in recent years are more evident than ever."

"Our contract division, which makes half of gross profits, reported a strong performance and remains a key area of strategic focus. Our fast growing Energy & Engineering and Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology businesses, which between them make up about one third of gross profits, continued to experience strong demand."

"Whatever 2013 has in store for us, we remain confident that we will make the best of it. We will manage the business prudently but we will not lose sight of the great medium term prospects for our business and we will invest where appropriate to ensure that the Group's future lives up to its potential." 

SThree will host a live presentation and conference call for analysts at 9am today, held at Citigate Dewe Rogerson's London offices. Conference call participant telephone, and reference are as follows:

Dial in: [phone] - Standard International Access

Call reference: SThree

This event will also be simultaneously audio webcast, hosted on SThree website at http://www.sthree.com/en/ note that this is a listen only facility and an archive of the presentation will be available via the same link later.

SThree will be announcing its Q1 Interim Management Statement on Friday 8 March 2013.

Enquiries:

SThree plc	020 7268 6000
Gary Elden, Chief Executive Officer
Alex Smith, Chief Financial Officer
Sarah Anderson, Deputy Company Secretary/Investor Relations
Citigate Dewe Rogerson	020 7638 9571
Kevin Smith / Nicola Swift

Notes to editors

SThree is a leading international specialist staffing businesses, providing permanent and contract specialist staff to a highly diverse client base. From its well-established position as a major player in the information and communications technology ("ICT") sector the Group has broadened the base of its operations to include businesses serving the accountancy & finance, banking, energy & engineering, oil & gas, pharmaceuticals, human resources, legal and job board sectors.

Since launching its original business, Computer Futures, in 1986, the Group has adopted a multi-brand strategy, establishing new operations to address growth opportunities. SThree brands include Computer Futures, Huxley Associates, Progressive and The Real Staffing Group. The Group has over 2,000 employees, operating in all continents.

SThree plc is quoted on the Official List of the UK Listing Authority under the ticker symbol STHR and also has a US level one ADR facility, symbol SERTY

Important notice

Certain statements in this announcement are forward looking statements. By their nature, forward looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties or assumptions that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by those statements. Forward looking statements regarding past trends or activities should not be taken as representation that such trends or activities will continue in the future. Accordingly, undue reliance should not be placed on forward looking statements.

SThree plc

("SThree" or the "Group")

Final results for the year ended 25 November 2012

Overview

2012 saw a steady deterioration in macro economic confidence that impacted on our activity levels and financial performance. Given the sentiment-driven nature of the staffing market, demand deteriorated across the year in line with the associated decreases in client and candidate confidence. Against this backdrop, we are pleased to be reporting a satisfactory outcome for the year.

Our performance was particularly impacted in our more mature geographies, where there was less opportunity to capitalise on structural growth to mitigate the economic headwinds. However, we saw strong performances from our Energy & Engineering and Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology businesses across all geographies as these businesses made an increasingly important contribution to the Group result. Contract, an area of significant focus for the Group in 2012, also significantly out-performed permanent.

During the year, we continued to invest in our international expansion, adding new offices in Oslo, Brisbane, Rio de Janeiro and San Diego, and in our IT infrastructure, which we see as a key differentiator.

Our commitment to the dividend remains unwavering and we are pleased to be maintaining the level of the ordinary dividend, despite a reduction in profits for the year.

Financial Outcome

During the year Group GP was up 5.0% at £205.3m (2011: £195.5m) and PBT of £25.3m was down 16.6% (2011: £30.3m).

The reduction in profitability was principally driven by a decline in consultant productivity in the face of  deteriorating macro-economic confidence, and by continued investment in the future growth of the business (primarily new offices and IT).

Although 2012 was again a year of investment, the Group had another robust performance in terms of cash generation. At the end of 2012 net cash was £28.3m (2011: £55.6m), after buying back £6.9m of shares, paying ordinary and special dividends of £30.0m and investing £10.5m in capital expenditure in respect of new offices and enhancing IT platforms.

Geographical Expansion

The Group continued its well established programme of international expansion, rolling-out a further four office locations during the year.  New offices were opened in Oslo, Rio de Janeiro, Brisbane and San Diego to support growth within the Energy & Engineering and Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology sectors. The Group now has a total of 64 offices in 18 countries.

In aggregate, Group GP generated from outside of the UK&I was £134.4m (2011: £124.2m), up 8.2%.  UK&I GP of £70.9m represented a 0.5 % decline on the prior year (2011: £71.3m) and reflected the more mature nature of the UK&I staffing market. The UK performance was pleasing given the further deterioration in the already very weak UK investment banking market.

As a consequence of the faster growth recorded outside of the UK&I, the Group's geographical business mix underwent a further shift in favour of our international operations. For 2012 the ratio was 65:35 in favour of non UK&I GP compared with 63:37 in 2011. We expect this trend to continue ensuring that the Group becomes ever more internationally diverse. That said, we have full confidence in the long term value of our UK&I business and expect to see very positive returns as sentiment ultimately improves. Given our focus on niche specialisms, in more normal conditions our candidates remain highly sought-after, even in more mature markets, and we have demonstrated over many years that our UK&I business does not require high rates of GDP growth to perform strongly. 

All of our international markets are less developed than the UK, offering us the opportunity to drive margin improvement and benefit from structural market growth.  Group GP generated from Continental Europe was up 1% at £99.4m (up 7% on a constant currency basis), with a robust performance from Germany, up 7%, (up 14% on a constant currency basis) offsetting Benelux, down 9%, (down 3% on a constant currency basis). Group GP generated from Rest of World grew by 36% (up 35% on a constant currency basis) with particularly notable performances from Australia up 38% and USA up 49% (both on a constant currency basis).

Further international office expansion is planned for 2013 with Tokyo, Calgary and Kuala Lumpur all due to open in the first half.

Sector Diversification

We have continued our focus on four core sectors - ICT, Energy & Engineering, Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology and Banking & Finance.

ICT

ICT represented 54% of GP during the year (2011: 60%). ICT is our longest and most established sector and consequently the majority of ICT business is in the more mature UK and European markets and its performance reflected this geographical bias. ICT GP for 2012 at £110.8m was down 5% (2011: £116.6m) or down 2% on a constant currency basis. 

As usual, the GP breakdowns given above are a reflection of the skill set of the candidate rather than the business sector of the client company. Measured by the latter, rather than a 54% exposure to the ICT market, only 18% of the Group's transactions in 2012 (2011: 19%) were with ICT firms per se. This limits the Group's exposure to this type of customer, who are typically (particularly in mature markets) more margin-sensitive.

Non-ICT

Energy & Engineering and Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology enjoyed very strong growth, up 48% and 39% respectively on a constant currency basis. Banking & Finance, as expected, had a very challenging 2012 and was down 19% on a constant currency basis.

Overall, non ICT GP grew by 20% year on year (up 23% on a constant currency basis) to £94.5m (2011: £78.9m).

 "High Margin High Value"   

Our selective attitude to customers has a direct bearing on our ability to consistently pursue our "High Margin High Value" approach. The Group has an established strategy of focusing on the quality of the business it transacts.  Given the highly fragmented nature of the specialist staffing market we do not see the case for buying market share and, in the process, exchanging value for volume. In particular, we consciously avoid the lower margin business which is often a prerequisite of dealing with larger price-sensitive clients in our more competitive markets.

During the year, we developed improved Management Information tools that allow us to calculate the lifetime profitability of individual contractors, taking into consideration GP day rates, initial contract lengths, extensions, credit notes, commissions and the support costs of providing the contractor to the client. Using these tools, we have begun to focus the business on lifetime profitability and in certain sectors, this may start to impact contract margin percentages and/or GP day rates, where we decide it is financially sensible to accept a lower headline margin percentage and/or GP day rate in return for higher overall returns to the Group.

In parallel, we are increasingly looking to move further "up the food chain" and place more highly paid candidates, either as a function of their seniority and/or their niche specialisation. This initiative, along with the positive impact of an increasing contribution from higher value geographies (e.g. Germany) was reflected in the robustness of our fees and contract rates during the year. The Group's overall contract margin stayed stable at 21.5% (2011: 21.4%) and the average GP per day rate (GPDR) improved somewhat, up 1.3% to £88 (2011: £87) on a constant currency basis.

A similar but more pronounced value theme was seen in the Group's permanent business. The average fee recorded in 2012 was £13,901 (2011: £13,061) up 6.4% on a constant currency basis. It is worth noting that this was achieved despite the fact that the Banking market (with its associated higher-than-average fees) was again weak throughout 2012, and reflects, in part, the growth of our Energy & Engineering and Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology businesses, which also enjoy attractive fees.

Contract/Permanent Business Mix

As expected, in 2012 contract performed more strongly than permanent against a more challenging economic backdrop. In the current economic environment, contract has been a key area of strategic focus and we have implemented a number of new initiatives including the lifetime profitability analysis discussed above. The number of contract runners at the end of 2012 had improved to 5,122 (2011: 4,692) representing an increase of 9.2%. During the year the Group made a total of 7,343 permanent placements (2011: 7,434), a decrease of 1.2%.

As a result we saw a further re-mixing of the business in favour of contract, such that contract GP represented 50% of the Group total in 2012, up from 48% of GP in 2011. The evolution of this metric in the near term will be at least somewhat dictated by the macro-economic backdrop in 2013. In a more challenging environment contract tends to be the more resilient of the two, but when sentiment changes for the better, permanent can recover very quickly. We are pleased to have a balanced business with our significant contract presence providing a key source of growth and some downside protection.    

Headcount

The Group ended 2012 with a total of 2,188 staff (2011: 2,272) a decrease of 3.7% on the prior year, as we allowed natural attrition to right size businesses in certain markets. Sales headcount grew in Rest of World by 18%, but was down in Europe by 5% and down in the UK by 18%.

Headcount growth for 2013 is likely to be modest and driven by sector and geographical opportunities. This partly reflects the uncertain economic outlook, but is also driven by a focus on improving the productivity of existing staff. In any case, we will only look to grow headcount where the current and recent performance of the specific team and the strength of the demand pipeline, merit it.             

Outlook

Given current levels of global economic and political uncertainty, predicting the kind of market conditions the Group will face during 2013 with any accuracy is extremely difficult. While the specialist staffing market does not need high levels of GDP growth to perform strongly, confidence is key to sentiment and this is undermined by persistent uncertainty.

Whatever 2013 has in store for us, we remain confident that we will make the best of it. We will manage the business prudently but we will not lose sight of the great medium term prospects for our business and  will invest where appropriate to ensure that the Group's future lives up to its potential.

CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER'S REVIEW

Revenue for the year increased by 6.5% to £577.5m (2011: £542.5m). GP increased by 5.0% to £205.3m (2011: £195.5m), representing a Group GP margin of 35.6% (2011: 36.0%). The Group GP margin decreased as a result of the remix in business towards contract, which represented 50% of GP in 2012, up from 48% in 2011. Permanent revenues are accounted for at 100% gross margin, whereas contract GP is shown after the associated cost of sales.

Administrative expenses increased by 8.8% to £180.2m (2011: £165.6m) due to the increased cost of new sales heads and increased property costs for new offices, as the Group continued its international expansion. The increase in these costs exceeded the growth in GP resulting in a fall in the Group's conversion ratio to 12.2% (2011: 15.3%).

Average total headcount for the year was 2,234, up 9.4% year on year (2011: 2,042). Total headcount at the year-end was 2,188 at 25 November 2012, down 3.7% on the prior year (2011: 2,272). These metrics reflect both the significant headcount growth in the second half of 2011 in a stronger market, and the decision to let natural attrition run its course in certain geographies and sectors in 2012, as the macroeconomic environment deteriorated. The Group continues to hire sales consultants highly selectively into teams where there is clear market-based evidence to support the investment and to staff the opening of new international offices. However, where the market demand is weaker we are prepared to allow natural attrition to right size teams.

Profit before tax decreased by 16.6% to £25.3m (2011: £30.3m) as the general macro economic climate reduced productivity, and also reflecting the continued investment in growth in new territories and supporting IT.

	Revenue			Gross Profit
	2012	2011	Change	2012	2011	Change
	£m		%	£m		%
Contract	473.9	441.5	7.3	101.7	94.5	7.6
Permanent	103.6	101.0	2.6	103.6	101.0	2.6
Total	577.5	542.5	6.5	205.3	195.5	5.0

Taxation

The taxation charge for the year was £8.4m (2011: £10.0m), representing an effective tax rate of 33.4% (2011: 33.1%).  The rate is higher than the effective UK Corporation Tax rate for the year of 24.67% (being 4 months at 26%, and 8 months at 24%), due to profits being generated in countries where the corporation tax rates are higher than in the UK, unrecognised tax losses in certain territories, and disallowable items of expenditure.  Based on the current structure of the Group and existing local taxation rates and legislation, it is expected that the underlying effective tax rate will remain at around or slightly below this level in the near to medium term.

Earnings per share

Basic earnings per share were 14.1p (2011: 16.8p), down 16.1%, driven by a decrease in profit after taxation of 17.0%. The weighted average number of shares used for basic EPS fell slightly to 119.5m (2011: 120.6m). Diluted earnings per share were 12.6p (2011: 15.5p), down 18.7%.

Dividends per share

It is the Board's intention to adopt a progressive dividend policy, targeting dividend cover of 2.0x to 2.5x over the medium term.

The Board previously declared an interim ordinary dividend of 4.7p per share (2011: 4.7p), at a cost of £5.6m.

The Board has decided to recommend a final ordinary dividend of 9.3p per share (2011: 9.3p), bringing the total ordinary dividend for the year to 14.0p per share (2011: 14.0p). The final ordinary dividend will be paid on 5 June 2013 to those shareholders on the register as at 3 May 2013.

A special dividend to return surplus cash to shareholders of 11.0p per share was paid on 2 December 2011. Periodically, the Board will review the Group's capital structure, with a view to, where prudent, returning further cash to shareholders in this manner.

Dividends paid in the period increased by £15.4m due to the payment of the special dividend, a 0.7p increase in the interim dividend per share and a 1.3p increase in the final dividend per share.

Financial position

The Group had net assets of £61.9m at 25 November 2012 (2011: £82.5m). The decrease in net assets was principally due to increased dividend payments and purchase of treasury shares.

The Group bought back £6.7m of shares (2.4m shares) to be held in treasury (2011: £7.9m, 3.2m shares), with the intention of using these to settle the buy-back of certain tracker shares and/or awards of shares under the Group's share plans.  Certain tracker shares vested for the first time in 2012 and were settled in shares only.  A total of 3.4m treasury shares were used to satisfy tracker share buy-backs and other awards in 2012.  It is anticipated that treasury shares will continue to be purchased in 2013 to satisfy further vesting of shares under the Group's share plans.

Capital expenditure is principally driven by expansion into new territories and offices and investment in the Group's IT infrastructure.  Tangible fixed asset additions amounted to £4.0m (2011: £3.0m), relating to investment in IT hardware and the fit out of new offices. Intangible asset additions increased to £9.4m (2011: £2.9m). The increase primarily related to the purchase of software and system development costs as the business continues to invest in infrastructure in support of its ongoing globalisation.

The most significant item on the Group's statement of financial position is trade and other receivables. As a result of an increase in revenue in the last quarter year on year of 3.5% and days sales outstanding ("DSO") increasing to 37 days (2011: 36 days), net trade debtors increased by £6.0m to £76.5m (2011: £70.5m). DSOs have increased slightly due to changes in the geographical mix of sales, with a greater proportion of revenues coming from territories with longer payment schedules. Total trade and other payables increased from £95.6m to £99.1m primarily due to an increase in accounts payable related to capital expenditure and an increase in the number of contract runners.

Cash flow

At the start of the year the Group had net cash of £55.6m. During the year, the Group generated cash from operations of £32.7m (2011: £36.4m). Income taxes paid increased to £9.5m (2011: £8.0m). The Group paid ordinary and special dividends of £30.0m (2011: £14.5m) and dividends to tracker share participants of £0.4m (2011: £0.7m). The Group paid £6.9m (2011: £7.6m) for the purchase of its own shares. Cash outflow on capital expenditure increased to £10.5m (2011: £5.8m)

At 25 November 2012 the Group had net cash of £28.3m.

Treasury management and currency risk

A committed flexible revolving credit facility is in place with Royal Bank of Scotland Group ("RBS") until January 2017. Under this arrangement the Group is able to borrow up to £20m. Funds borrowed under this facility bear interest at a minimum annual rate of 1.3% above 3 month LIBOR. The Group has not drawn down against this facility at the year-end.

The main functional currencies of the Group are Sterling, the Euro and the Dollar. The Group has significant operations outside the United Kingdom and as such is exposed to movements in exchange rates.

The Board has undertaken a review of its currency hedging strategy to ensure that it remains appropriate. The Group does not engage in speculative trading. The impact of foreign exchange will become a more significant issue for the Group as we expect the business mix to move further towards International, with the International business accounting for 67% of GP in 2012 (2011: 64%). The Group will continue to monitor its policies in this area.

Other principal risks and uncertainties

Other principal risks and uncertainties generally affecting the business activities of the Group are detailed within the Directors' Report section of the Annual Report. In the view of the Board, there is no material change expected to the Group's key risk factors in the foreseeable future.

Our strong balance sheet and net cash continue to give us the confidence to maximise the opportunities that lie ahead.

	SThree plc
	Consolidated income statement
	Year ended 25 November 2012
				25 November	27 November
				2012	2011
			Note	£'000	£'000
	Continuing operations
	Revenue		2	577,457	542,450
	Cost of sales			(372,161)	(346,920)
	Gross profit		2	205,296	195,530
	Administrative expenses			(180,205)	(165,567)
	Operating profit		3	25,091	29,963
	Finance income			222	361
	Finance costs			(46)	(25)
	Profit before taxation			25,267	30,299
	Taxation		4	(8,442)	(10,034)
	Profit for the year attributable to owners of the Company			16,825	20,265
	Earnings per share		6	pence	pence
	Basic			14.1	16.8
	Diluted			12.6	15.5*
	* Restated, refer note 1

	Consolidated statement of comprehensive income
	Year ended 25 November 2012
		Year ended	Year ended
		25 November	27 November
		2012	2011
		£'000	£'000
	Profit for the year	16,825	20,265
	Other comprehensive (loss)/ income:
	Exchange differences on retranslation of foreign operations	(2,845)	103
	Other comprehensive (loss)/ income for the year (net of tax)	(2,845)	103
	Total comprehensive income for the year attributable to owners of the Company	13,980	20,368

	SThree plc
	Statements of financial position
	As at 25 November 2012
			25 November	27 November
			2012	2011
		Note	£'000	£'000
	Assets
	Non-current assets
	Property, plant and equipment		5,897	5,263
	Intangible assets		14,250	8,548
	Deferred tax assets		4,871	6,395
			25,018	20,206
	Current assets
	Trade and other receivables		113,994	111,093
	Current tax assets		653	-
	Cash and cash equivalents	7	28,291	55,605
			142,938	166,698
	Total assets		167,956	186,904
	Equity and Liabilities
	Equity attributable to the owners of the Company
	Share capital		1,234	1,230
	Share premium		4,138	2,925
	Other reserves		(8,952)	(8,087)
	Retained earnings		65,503	86,399
	Total equity		61,923	82,467
	Non-current liabilities
	Provisions for liabilities and charges		1,484	1,678
	Trade and other payables		1,136	-
			2,620	1,678
	Current liabilities
	Provisions for liabilities and charges		5,410	4,894
	Trade and other payables		98,003	95,561
	Current tax liabilities		-	2,304
			103,413	102,759
	Total liabilities		106,033	104,437
	Total equity and liabilities		167,956	186,904

	SThree plc
	Consolidated statement of changes in equity
	Year ended 25 November 2012
		Note	Share capital	Share premium	Capital redemption reserve	Capital reserve	Treasury reserve	Currency translation reserve	Retained earnings	Total equity attributable to owners of the Company
			£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000
	Balance at 28 November 2010		1,218	2,925	168	878	-	(1,328)	78,057	81,918
	Profit for the year ended 27 November 2011		-	-	-	-	-	-	20,265	20,265
	Other comprehensive income for the year		-	-	-	-	-	103	-	103
	Total comprehensive income for the year		-	-	-	-	-	103	20,265	20,368
	Dividends paid to equity holders		-	-	-	-	-	-	(14,518)	(14,518)
	Distributions to tracker shareholders		-	-	-	-	-	-	(679)	(679)
	Issue of new shares		12	-	-	-	-	-	-	12
	Purchase of own shares		-	-	-	-	(7,908)	-	-	(7,908)
	Credit to equity for equity-settled share based payments		-	-	-	-	-	-	2,426	2,426
	Current tax on share based payment transactions	4	-	-	-	-	-	-	1,776	1,776
	Deferred tax on share based payment transactions	4	-	-	-	-	-	-	(928)	(928)
	Total movements in equity		12	-	-	-	(7,908)	103	8,342	549
	Balance at 27 November 2011		1,230	2,925	168	878	(7,908)	(1,225)	86,399	82,467
	Profit for the year ended 25 November 2012		-	-	-	-	-		16,825	16,825
	Other comprehensive loss for the year		-	-	-	-	-	(2,845)	-	(2,845)
	Total comprehensive income for the year		-	-	-	-	-	(2,845)	16,825	13,980
	Dividends paid to equity holders		-	-	-	-	-	-	(29,951)	(29,951)
	Distributions to tracker shareholders		-	-	-	-	-	-	(424)	(424)
	Issue of new shares		4	1,213	-	-	-	-	(1,217)	-
	Purchase of own shares		-	-	-	-	(6,682)	-	-	(6,682)
	Treasury shares used for buy-back of vested tracker shares		-	-	-	-	3,661	-	(3,661)	-
	Treasury shares used for share-based payments		-	-	-	-	5,001	-	(4,475)	526
	Credit to equity for equity-settled share-based payments		-	-	-	-	-	-	1,548	1,548
	Current tax on share-based payment transactions	4	-	-	-	-	-	-	972	972
	Deferred tax on share-based payment transactions	4	-	-	-	-	-	-	(513)	(513)
	Total movements in equity		4	1,213	-	-	1,980	(2,845)	(20,896)	(20,544)
	Balance at 25 November 2012		1,234	4,138	168	878	(5,928)	(4,070)	65,503	61,923

	SThree plc
	Statement of cash flows
	Year ended 25 November 2012
			25 November	27 November
			2012	2011
		Note	£'000	£'000
	Cash flows from operating activities
	Profit before taxation		25,267	30,299
	Adjustments for:
	Depreciation and amortisation charge		6,841	7,659
	Finance income		(222)	(361)
	Finance cost		46	25
	Loss on disposal of property, plant and equipment		9	67
	Loss on disposal of intangible assets		-	11
	Non-cash charge for share-based payments		1,548	2,426
	Operating cashflows before changes in working capital and provisions
			33,489	40,126
	Increase in receivables		(5,265)	(12,005)
	Increase in payables		3,952	8,443
	Increase/(decrease) in provisions		513	(197)
	Cash generated from operations		32,689	36,367
	Finance income		222	361
	Income tax paid		(9,527)	(7,951)
	Net cash generated from operating activities		23,384	28,777
	Cash flows from investing activities
	Purchase of property, plant and equipment		(3,862)	(2,918)
	Purchase of intangible assets		(6,669)	(2,911)
	Proceeds from disposal of held-to-maturity investment		-	3,500
	Net cash used in investing activities		(10,531)	(2,329)
	Cash flows from financing activities
	Finance cost		(46)	(25)
	Employee subscription for tracker shares		341	135
	Proceeds from exercise of share options		564	-
	Purchase of own shares		(6,882)	(7,557)
	Issue of new shares to equity holders		-	12
	Repurchase of unvested tracker shares		(78)	(71)
	Dividends paid to equity holders	5	(29,951)	(14,518)
	Distributions to tracker shareholders		(424)	(679)
	Net cash used in financing activities		(36,476)	(22,703)
	Net (decrease)/increase in cash and cash equivalents		(23,623)	3,745
	Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of year		55,605	51,718
	Effect of exchange rate changes		(3,691)	142
	Cash and cash equivalents at end of year	7	28,291	55,605

SThree plc

Notes to the Financial Information

Year ended 25 November 2012

1.     Basis of preparation

The financial information in this preliminary announcement has been extracted from the Group audited financial statements for the year ended 25 November 2012 and does not constitute statutory accounts within the meaning of section 434 of the Companies Act 2006. The Group financial statements and this preliminary announcement were approved by the Board of Directors on 25 January 2013.

The auditors have reported on the Group's financial statements for the years ended 25 November 2012 and 27 November 2011 under s495 of the Companies Act 2006. The auditors reports are unqualified and do not contain a statement under section 498(2) or (3) of the Companies Act 2006. The Group's statutory accounts for the year ended 27 November 2011 have been filed with the Registrar of Companies and those for the year ended 25 November 2012 will be filed following the Company's Annual General Meeting.

The Group's financial statements have been prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards ('IFRSs') as adopted and endorsed by the European Union and have been prepared under the historical cost convention as modified by fair values as required under IFRSs.

The financial year of the Group comprises 52 weeks and not a calendar year.                                          

The same accounting policies, presentation and computation methods are followed in this preliminary announcement as in the preparation of the Group financial statements. The accounting policies have been applied consistently by the Group.

Certain reclassifications and regroupings have been made to prior year amounts to conform to the current year presentation. 

The directors have, at the time of approving the financial statements, a reasonable expectation that the Group has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. Thus they continue to adopt a going concern basis of accounting in preparing the Group financial statements and the preliminary announcement.

Restatement of diluted earnings per share

An assessment of the impact of the tracker share arrangement on earnings per share ("EPS") has been performed in the year and the dilutive effect of the tracker shares has been reflected in diluted EPS presented. Accordingly, diluted EPS for the year ended 27 November 2011 has been adjusted from 16.4p to 15.5p per share after taking into account the dilutive effect of the tracker shares (note 6).                                                                                                                                         

The restatement has no impact on the Group's reported profits or the financial position.

2.     Segmental analysis

IFRS 8 'Segmental Reporting' requires management to apply the 'management approach' to segmental reporting. This requires management to determine those segments whose operating results are reviewed regularly by the entity's chief operating decision maker to make strategic decisions and assess sector performance.                                                                                  

Revenue and Gross Profit by reportable segment                                                                                       

Management has determined the chief operating decision maker to be the Executive Committee made up of the Chief Executive Officer, the Chief Financial Officer, the Chief Operating Officer, the Chief Information Officer, the Director of Strategic Capability, the Regional Managing Directors and key function heads. Operating segments have been identified based on reports reviewed by the Executive Committee, which consider the business primarily from a geographic perspective.                                                                                                                                                                              

The Group's management reporting and controlling systems use accounting policies that are the same as those described in note 1 to the Group financial statements.

The Group measures the performance of its operating segments through a measure of segment profit or loss which is referred to as "Gross Profit" in the management reporting and controlling systems. Gross profit is the measure of segment profit/ (loss) comprising revenue less cost of sales.                                                                                                                                                                        

Intersegment revenue is recorded at values which approximate third party selling prices and is not significant.                                                                                                                                                               

Certain comparatives below have been revised from those presented in the 2011 Group financial statements and the preliminary announcement to provide further detail on the performance of our reportable segments as presented to the Executive Committee.     

Year ended 25 November 2012

			United Kingdom & Ireland	Continental Europe	Rest of the World	Group total
			£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000
Revenue from external customers			246,679	262,633	68,145	577,457
Gross profit			70,870	99,397	35,029	205,296

Continental Europe includes Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Netherlands and Switzerland.

Rest of the World refers to 'all other segments' as defined under IFRS 8 and includes Australia, Hong Kong, India, Singapore, Dubai, Qatar, Brazil, USA, Norway and Russia.

Year ended 27 November 2011

			United Kingdom & Ireland	Continental Europe	Rest of the World	Group total
			£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000
Revenue from external customers			242,667	258,977	40,806	542,450
Gross profit			71,348	98,448	25,734	195,530

Other information

The Group's revenue from external customers, its gross profit and information about its segment assets (non-current assets excluding deferred tax assets) by key location are detailed below:

			Revenue		Gross profit
			25 November	27 November	25 November	27 November
			2012	2011	2012	2011
			£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000
	UK		240,002	236,920	68,078	68,955
	Germany		108,790	102,939	46,349	44,326
	Netherlands		70,575	74,311	22,257	25,088
	Other		158,090	128,280	68,612	57,161
			577,457	542,450	205,296	195,530
					Non-current assets
					25 November	27 November
					2012	2011
					£'000	£'000
	UK				17,034	11,012
	Germany				422	523
	Netherlands				383	350
	Other				2,308	1,926
					20,147	13,811

The following segmental analyses by brand, recruitment classification and discipline (being the profession of candidates placed) have been included as additional disclosure to the requirements of IFRS 8 'Operating Segments'.

			Revenue		Gross profit
			25 November	27 November	25 November	27 November
			2012	2011	2012	2011
			£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000
Brand
Progressive			192,327	158,114	67,467	55,241
Huxley Associates			139,854	146,376	50,601	54,551
Computer Futures			144,544	145,879	50,021	52,912
Real Staffing Group			100,732	92,081	37,207	32,826
			577,457	542,450	205,296	195,530
Recruitment classification
Contract			473,838	441,456	101,710	94,536
Permanent			103,619	100,994	103,586	100,994
			577,457	542,450	205,296	195,530
Discipline
Information and communication technology			378,169	373,745	110,820	116,619
Others			199,288	168,705	94,476	78,911
			577,457	542,450	205,296	195,530

Others include engineering and energy, banking, accountancy and finance, pharmaceuticals and jobboard sectors.

3.     Operating profit

Operating profit is stated after charging/(crediting):

					25 November	27 November
					2012	2011
					£'000	£'000
Movement in bad debt provision and debts directly written off					1,737	223
Depreciation					3,177	3,148
Amortisation of intangible assets					3,664	4,511
Foreign exchange gains					(335)	(515)
Staff costs					127,308	121,392
Loss on disposal of property, plant and equipment					9	67
Loss on disposal of intangible assets					-	11
Operating lease charges
	- Motor vehicles				1,480	1,223
	- Land and buildings				11,183	9,912

4.     Taxation

 (a) Analysis of tax charge for the year:

				25 November	27 November
				2012	2011
				£'000	£'000
Current taxation
UK
Corporation tax charged at 24.67% (2011: 26.67%) on profits for the year				3,357	6,278
Adjustments in respect of prior periods				91	133
Overseas
Corporation tax charged on profits for the year				3,159	3,252
Adjustments in respect of prior periods				973	(1,073)
Total current tax charge				7,580	8,590
Deferred taxation
Origination and reversal of temporary differences				382	174
Adjustments in respect of prior periods				480	1,270
Total deferred tax charge				862	1,444
Total income tax charge in the income statement				8,442	10,034

 (b) Reconciliation of the effective tax rate

The Group's tax charge for the year ended 25 November 2012 exceeds the UK statutory rate and can be reconciled as follows:

		25 November		27 November
		2012		2011
		£'000	%	£'000	%
Profit before taxation		25,267		30,299
Profit before taxation multiplied by standard rate of corporation tax in the UK		6,232	24.67%	8,081	26.67%
Effects of:
(Non-taxable)/disallowable items		(458)	(1.81%)	626	2.07%
Differing tax rates on overseas earnings		551	2.18%	585	1.93%
Adjustments to tax in respect of previous periods		1,544	6.11%	330	1.09%
Adjustment due to UK tax rate change		93	0.37%	58	0.19%
Tax losses for which no deferred tax was recognised		480	1.90%	354	1.17%
Tax expense and effective tax rate for the year		8,442	33.42%	10,034	33.12%

(c) Current and deferred tax movement recognised directly in equity

				25 November	27 November
				2012	2011
				£'000	£'000
Equity-settled share-based payments
Current tax				(972)	(1,776)
Deferred tax				513	928
				(459)	(848)

The Group expects to receive additional tax deductions in respect of the share awards and share options currently unexercised.  Under IFRS the Group is required to provide for deferred tax on all unexercised share awards and options. Where the amount of the tax deduction (or estimated future tax deduction) exceeds the amount of the related cumulative remuneration expense, this indicates that the tax deduction relates not only to remuneration expense but also to an equity item. In this situation, the excess of the current or deferred tax should be recognised in equity. At 25 November 2012 a deferred tax asset of £0.8m (2011: £1.0m) has been recognised in respect of these options.

5.     Dividends

				25 November	27 November
				2012	2011
				£'000	£'000
Amounts recognised as distributions to equity holders in the year
Interim dividend of 4.7p (2011: 4.0p) per share (i)				5,624	4,694
Special dividend of 11.0p (2011: nil) per share (i)				13,162	-
Final dividend of 9.3p (2011: 8.0p) per share (ii)				11,165	9,824
				29,951	14,518
Amounts proposed as distributions to shareholders
Interim and special dividends for the six months ended 27 May 2012 of 4.7p (2011: 4.7p) and nil (2011: 11.0p) respectively per share (i) & (iii)
				5,654	18,786
Final dividend of 9.3p (2011: 9.3p) per share for the year ended 25 November 2012 (iv)				11,166	11,128

(i)     An interim dividend of 4.7 pence (2011: 4.0 pence) and a special dividend of 11.0 pence (2011: nil) per share for the six months
        ended 29 May 2011 were paid on 2 December 2011 to shareholders on record at 4 November 2011.                                                                                                                                                      

(ii)     A final dividend of 9.3 pence (2011: 8.0 pence) per share for the year ended 27 November 2011 was paid on 6 June 2012 to
        shareholders on record at 4 May 2012.               

(iii)    An interim dividend of 4.7 pence (2011: 4.7 pence) per share for the six months ended 27 May 2012 was paid on 7 December
        2012 to shareholders on record at 9 November 2012.                                                                                                                                                                                        

(iv)   The Board propose a final dividend of 9.3 pence per share for the year ended 25 November 2012 (2011: 9.3 pence), to be paid
        on 5 June 2013 to shareholders on record at 3 May 2013. This proposed final dividend is subject to approval by shareholders at
        the Company's Annual General Meeting on 18 April 2013 and has not been included as a liability in these financial statements.

6.     Earnings per share

The calculation of the basic and diluted earnings per share ('EPS') is based on the following data.

Basic EPS is calculated by dividing the earnings attributable to owners of the Company by the weighted average number of shares in issue during the year, excluding shares held as Treasury shares and those held in the EBT which are treated as cancelled.

For diluted EPS, the weighted average number of shares in issue is adjusted to assume conversion of dilutive potential shares. Potential dilution resulting from tracker shares takes into account profitability of the underlying businesses and SThree plc's price-earnings ratio. Therefore, the dilutive effect on EPS will vary in future periods depending on the changes in these factors.

					25 November	27 November
					2012	2011
					£'000	£'000
Earnings
Profit after taxation attributable to owners of the Company					16,825	20,265
					million	million
Number of shares
Weighted average number of shares used for basic EPS					119.5	120.6
Dilutive effect of share plans (note 1)					14.3	10.4
Diluted weighted average number of shares used for diluted EPS					133.8	131.0
					pence	pence
Basic earnings per share					14.1	16.8
Diluted earnings per share (note 1)					12.6	15.5

7.     Cash and cash equivalents

					25 November	27 November
					2012	2011
					£'000	£'000
Cash in hand and at bank					28,291	55,605

8.     Annual Report and Accounts and Annual General Meeting

The 2012 Annual Report and Accounts and Notice of 2012 Annual General Meeting will be posted to shareholders shortly. Copies will be available on the Company's website www.sthree.com or from the Company Secretary, 5^th Floor, 215 -227 Great Portland Street, London, W1W 5PN. The Annual General Meeting of SThree plc is to be held on 18 April 2013.

 

END

 

 

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