Hydrogen Group 1H Beats Own Views; Seeks Overseas Growth

LONDON (Dow Jones)--Professional recruitment business Hydrogen Group PLC (HYDG.LN) Thursday said first-half trading was ahead of its own expectations, boosted in part by a larger proportion of business overseas, and said it was looking to expand further internationally. The recruiter didn't give details of its own expectations but analysts forecast 2010 pretax profit of GBP1.6 million on revenue of GBP75.6 million, according to a FactSet poll of two. In a trading update on the first half, Hydrogen said group net fee income was "significantly ahead" of the GBP7.9 million posted in the same period a year earlier. The company said net fee income, or gross profit, from its international operations now makes up around 35% of the group total compared with 19% last year, boosted by the new Singapore office that has performed ahead of expectations. Hydrogen said it expects to be broadly cash neutral at the end of the first half, compared with a net cash position of GBP3.1 million at the end of December. -By Rachael Gormley, Dow Jones Newswires; 44-20-7842-9308; rachael.gormley@dowjones.com (END) Dow Jones Newswires July 01, 2010 04:24 ET (08:24 GMT)