(Alliance News) - SThree PLC shares jumped on Monday after the specialist staffing company raised its full-year profit outlook due to an "excellent" performance in its first half that was enabled by growth in its largest markets.
Shares in SThree were up 5.6% at 336.85 pence each on Monday morning in London.
In the six months to May 31, net fees increased 25% to GBP203.1 million from GBP164.3 million the year before.
Net fees in its second quarter grew 23% year-on-year.
The London-based firm attributed this to "very strong" growth in its largest markets, namely Germany, the US and Netherlands, with growth of 22%, 21% and 41% respectively. The company also credited this to strong double digit growth in its key sectors of Technology, Life Sciences and Engineering.
As a result of its "strong performance" the company said it is currently trading ahead of market expectations for the year ending November 30.
It expects its full-year pretax profit to be at least 5% ahead of market consensus.
In financial 2021, the company generated a pretax profit of GBP60.2 million. The current management-compiled consensus expects a profit of GBP66.2 million for financial 2022.
SThree described its balance sheet as "robust" with net cash of GBP48 million as at May 31, unchanged from a year before.
"Our group has delivered another excellent quarter of growth, driven by successes across all key regions and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines. As a result of this strong performance, we are now trading ahead of market expectations for the 2022 full year," Chief Executive Timo Lehne commented.
By Abby Amoakuh; abbyamoakuh@alliancenews.com
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SThree (STEM)