Shares in recruitment firm Hydrogen hit a new 52-week high after the company said trading in the first half of 2010 was ahead of expectations. Group net fee income (NFI) for the period was way ahead of the same period for the prior year , with NFI from international operations growing to around 35% of the total, compared to a 19% share in the corresponding period last year. The Singapore office, which opened in January, has performed well and ahead of expectations, the company said. "Having successfully opened two offices outside of the UK and taken our International NFI to over a third of the business, we are continuing to seek further international opportunities," said Ian Temple, executive chairman of Hydrogen.