A resilient update that stands out from the crowd

The key takeaway from the trading update for H1 ’25 was a solid trading performance, despite a challenging market environment. We remain encouraged by the static guidance at the adj. PBT level of £3m for FY25, highlighting an improvement in operational efficiency, combined with higher average fee rates. Contract NFI declined 1% yoy, with increased summer holidays and a late return to work in January modestly offsetting the growth in contractor numbers and higher salaries. Although permanent NFI declined 10% yoy during the period, this demonstrates outperformance relative to its professional service focused peers and GATC delivered growth of 3% on a sequential half-yearly basis. We have modestly reduced FY25 estimates for NFI (-5% to £39....