LONDON (Alliance News) - Recruiter SThree PLC said its gross profit increased in the third quarter, despite continued weakness at its energy division, and said it anticipates its full-year results will be ahead of market expectations.
SThree said that its results for the financial year to the end of November will come in ahead of the market consensus of GBP36.7 million, including the GBP3.0 million in restructuring costs it is set to book.
The company said its gross profit in the third quarter to the end of August was up by 13% year-on-year at constant currency and was up 20% when stripping out its energy business. Energy remained weak in the quarter, in line with the company's expectations, though did recover marginally against the second quarter.
SThree said contract gross profit increased by 20% on the year before at constant currency, while permanent gross profit was up 1%, or up 12% excluding the Energy business.
Its ICT and life sciences businesses both performed well, with gross profit rising 21% in both, while its Americas business was also successful, with gross profit rising 31%.
"Looking ahead, we believe the trading environment remains positive in the majority of our territories. While the outlook for Energy remains challenging and foreign exchange continues to be a headwind, the group's robust overall performance demonstrates the inherent benefits of our well-diversified portfolio," said Chief Executive Gary Elden.
"An expanded Contract book and improving Permanent performance outside the Energy sector give us a strong base as we enter the seasonally most significant fourth quarter, and we now expect pre-tax profit for the year will be ahead of current market consensus," Elden added.
By Sam Unsted; samunsted@alliancenews.com; @SamUAtAlliance
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