LONDON (Alliance News) - CPL Resources PLC on Thursday hiked its interim dividend on the back of a robust performance from its Flexible Talent business and a widened margin.
The Irish recruitment company is proposing an 8.00 EUR cent per share dividend, up 26% from 6.35 cents per share the year before.
Revenue was up at EUR278.6 million from EUR256.7 million and the firm's gross margin widened to 16.7% from 15.8%.
CPL Resources posted a pretax profit of EUR11.0 million for the six months ended December 31, up 22% from EUR9.0 million a year before.
Flexible Talent now accounts for 70% of CPL Resources' net fee income, versus 68% year-on-year, and Flexible Talent net fee income was up 19% at EUR32.6 million from EUR27.5 million.
Permanent Recruitment saw a 6.2% increase in net fee income to EUR13.8 million from EUR13.0 million, which Chair John Hennessy put down to "significant increases in [CPL Resources'] Finance and Technology divisions".
At year end, the firm had a net cash balance of EUR30.2 million versus EUR12.4 million the year before.
"As we move into the second half of our financial year we are closely monitoring activity levels in our key markets. We remain conscious of the impact of political, regulatory and economic events globally on our business, in particular Brexit. We operate in a cyclical industry which is sensitive to changes in economic activity within our core markets. While our business model has evolved over the years to include more forward secured revenue streams, a material proportion of our net fee income has short term visibility," said Hennessy.
"Current market conditions are favourable with high demand for talent and low unemployment rates in our key markets. We remain confident in the outlook for the business and expect to deliver continued profitable growth for the remainder of the financial year," Hennessy added.
The chair also noted the departure of Non Executive Director Oliver Tattan, who has been on the board since 2007 and has retired from the board with immediate effect.
Shares in CPL resources were untraded at 515.00 pence on Thursday.
