(Alliance News) - SThree said on Monday that it had delivered a record annual performance as the company nearly doubled its pretax profit.
Shares in SThree were up 9.9% at 459.00 pence on Monday morning in London.
For the year ended November 30, the London-based recruitment company focused on the science, technology, engineering and mathematics industries reported a pretax profit of GBP60.2 million, nearly double the prior year's figure of GBP30.6 million.
SThree's operating profit also nearly doubled, rising to GBP60.8 million from GBP31.8 million. Revenue was up 11% to GBP1.3 billion from GBP1.2 billion and net fees were up 15% to GBP355.7 million from GBP308.6 million.
The company added that both net fees and operating profit were also "comfortably" ahead of 2019 levels, which had been a record year in SThree's history.
SThree said it had delivered a very strong performance for the year due to two long-term trends: an increasing demand for STEM skills and an accelerating trend towards flexible working.
The company said it has proposed to pay a final dividend at 8.0 pence per share, up 60% from the previous year's final dividend of 5.0p. This gives a total dividend for the year of 11.0p per share. Last year the total dividend amounted to 5.0p.
Interim Chief Executive Timo Lehne said: "Momentum is strong and demand for the talent we provide is expanding, driving anticipated double-digit growth in 2022. We are well positioned, we demonstrated our ability to navigate through unforeseen challenges, such as Covid-19, and we continue to evolve our delivery model. We will further invest in our infrastructure and our people in 2022, enhancing our group-wide platform to drive accelerated margins in future years. We remain positive about our growth prospects as we continue to position ourselves as the leading STEM talent provider in the best global STEM markets."
SThree said it will issue a first-quarter trading update on March 21.
By Heather Rydings; heatherrydings@alliancenews.com
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SThree (STEM)