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(Alliance News) - Recruiter Empresaria Group PLC posted a near 70% fall in annual profit on Wednesday in a difficult environment across a number of markets.
Empresaria's pretax profit for 2019 fell 69% to GBP2.9million, with adjusted pretax profit down 18% to GBP9.3 million.
Revenue for the year was 2% lower at GBP358.0 million. Net fee income rose 3% to GBP74.5 million.
Crawley, West Sussex-based Empresaria said Brexit-related uncertainty and a slowdown in the German automotive sector proved headwinds during the year. The firm also has been dealing with "challenges" in its UK Engineering business, all of which combined to knock profitability.
The company has declared a 2.2 pence per share dividend for the year, which is 10% higher than 2018's payout.
"We are pleased to be reporting net fee income growth in a challenging economic environment. These challenges have impacted the bottom line, particularly in our UK engineering business where we have taken the decision to close a substantial part of the operation," said Chief Executive Rhona Driggs.
"Notwithstanding the wider market challenges, we have made great progress in 2019 in implementing operational improvements that will help us build a strong platform for future growth."
Looking ahead, Empresaria said it is confident changes made in 2019 and planned investments for 2020 will leave it well-positioned, though it noted conditions remain tough especially given the Covid-19 health crisis.
Shares were 12% lower on Wednesday morning in London at a price of 34.00p each.
By George Collard; georgecollard@alliancenews.com
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