Trading Update and Notice of Results

RNS Number : 9978T

Empresaria Group PLC

28 July 2022

 

28 July 2022

Empresaria Group plc

("Empresaria" or the "Group")

Trading Update and Notice of Results

Solid net fee income growth and on track to deliver full year market expectations

Empresaria (AIM: EMR), the global specialist staffing group, today provides a trading update for the 6 months ended 30 June 2022 ahead of announcing its interim results in full on 11 August 2022.

Trading update

· H1 net fee income up 15% year-on-year to £32.6m (up 15% in constant currency)

· Offshore services net fee income up 94% year-on-year

· Permanent placement net fee income up 23% year-on-year

· H1 adjusted operating profit expected to be ahead of prior year

· Adjusted net debt reduced to £10.8m (31 December 2021: £14.0m) with headroom increased to £14.8m

· Profits for the full year expected to be in line with market expectations

The Group delivered solid net fee income growth in the first half of 2022.  We delivered very strong year-on-year growth in Offshore Services which has continued to go from strength to strength and now employs over 2,700 people.  We also had good growth in our Professional and IT operations in APAC.  As expected, net fee income from Healthcare reduced after a very strong 2021 where we benefitted from significant demand from COVID-19 vaccination programmes.  We are experiencing more challenging conditions in some of our markets, such as in our German temporary business, where supply chain issues have impacted our clients and increased sickness rates have impacted margins.  Analysis on net fee income by region will be presented in the interim results.

As communicated in our annual report, we have been investing in growing our sales and recruiting teams where we see significant opportunities for growth and our headcount has increased by 5% from the end of 2021 (excluding Offshore Services which has grown headcount by 36%). Hiring in certain markets has proven to be challenging due to the lack of availability of talent and increased salary expectations for those willing to move, however we have seen a recent uptick in hiring particularly in APAC.  In addition, we have made good progress in supplementing our recruitment teams with our offshore resources. 

Financial position

Adjusted net debt at 30 June 2022 reduced to £10.8m (31 December 2021: £14.0m) reflecting profit performance and a shift in mix with a greater proportion of NFI delivered from permanent placements which have lower working capital requirements.

Rhona Driggs, CEO of Empresaria, commented:

"We are pleased to report solid growth in net fee income in the first half of 2022.  We are seeing positive outcomes from our investments in our team, technology and broadening our service offerings, with early successes from our RPO offering in APAC particularly pleasing.

The competition for talent intensified in the first half of 2022.  High demand from clients combined with talent shortages and rising inflation means that the recruitment landscape has been incredibly competitive.  This provides both opportunities and challenges with the increased volume of available roles offset by the lack of candidates and the increased levels of counter or competing offers.

Global macroeconomic uncertainties are increasing and the impact of growing inflation in many of our markets is yet to be fully realised.  We have yet to see any significant adverse impact, although we have seen some localised issues such as supply chain challenges for our clients in Germany.

We continue to invest in our operations, growing headcount where we see strong opportunities for growth, along with our ongoing investment in technology to improve our speed to deliver and provide greater productivity.  We are also investing in expanding our capacity to grow headcount in Offshore Services.

Given our solid start to 2022, we expect profits for the full year to be in line with market expectations."

Investor presentation

In line with Empresaria's commitment to ensuring appropriate communication structures are in place for all sections of its shareholder base, management will deliver an online results presentation open to all existing and potential investors via the Investor Meet Company platform on Thursday 11 August 2022 at 4:30pm UK time.

Questions can be submitted pre-event through the platform or at any time during the live presentation.  Management may not be in a position to answer every question it receives but will address those it can while remaining within the confines of information already disclosed to the market.

Q&A responses will be published at the earliest opportunity on the Investor Meet Company platform.

Investors can sign up for free via: https://www.investormeetcompany.com/empresaria-group-plc/register-investor .  Those who have already registered and requested to meet the Company will be automatically invited.

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the UK version of the EU Market Abuse Regulation (2014/596) which is part of UK law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, as amended and supplemented from time to time.

- Ends -

Enquiries:

Empresaria Group plc Rhona Driggs, Chief Executive Officer Tim Anderson, Chief Financial Officer	via Alma PR
Singer Capital Markets (Nominated Adviser and Broker) Shaun Dobson / James Moat	020 7496 3000
Alma PR (Financial PR) Sam Modlin Hilary Buchanan	020 3405 0205 [e-mail]

Notes for editors:

§     Empresaria Group plc is a global specialist staffing group offering temporary and contract recruitment, permanent recruitment and offshore recruitment services across 6 sectors: Professional, IT, Healthcare, Property, Construction and Engineering, Commercial and Offshore Recruitment Services.

§     Empresaria operates from locations across the world including the 4 largest staffing markets of the US, Japan, UK and Germany along with a strong presence elsewhere in Asia Pacific and Latin America.

§     Empresaria is listed on AIM under ticker EMR.  For more information visit empresaria.com.

 

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