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PageGroup PLC on Tuesday said it continues to expect its 2025 operating profit to be in line with current market consensus, as it posted an interim profit slump amid a revenue fall. The Surrey, England-based recruitment firm said pretax profit dived to £233,000 in the first half of 2025 from £27.7 million a year ago. Operating profit declined 93% to £2.1 million from £28.4 million. Revenue fell 11% to £798.4 million from £898.0 million. Cost of sales came down 9.9% to £408.8 million from £453.8 million, and administrative expenses were 6.8% lower at £387.5 million compared to £415.7 million. But financial expenses increased 61% to £2.6 million from £1.6 million. The firm cut jobs in response. Its fee earner headcount was down by 207, or 3.9%, in the first half to 5,163. PageGroup said gross profit from temporary recruitment was down 9.5% in the recent six months from a year before, with permanent recruitment gross profit falling 13%. These were down 7.0% and 11%, respectively, at constant currency. Gross profit was down 16% in Europe, Middle East and Africa, with France down the most and Germany the second most. Gross profit was down 13% in the UK, 3.1% in the Americas, and 7.7% in Asia Pacific. Companies are limiting and delaying hiring decisions due to macroeconomic and tariff related uncertainty, PageGroup said. PageGroup for the UK noted ‘ongoing subdued levels of client and candidate confidence impacting decision making and increasing time-to-hire’. Business in the US grew by 11%, amid ‘good’ levels of activity in trading, especially in engineering, PageGroup said, as well as ‘significantly’ improved performance in construction in the second quarter. Despite the fall in profit, PageGroup announced an interim dividend of 5.36 pence per share, unchanged from a year prior. Looking ahead, the company continues to expect 2025 operating profit to be broadly in line with market consensus of around £22 million, down 58% from £52.4 million in 2024. Chief Executive Officer Nicholas Kirk said: ‘We continue to see the benefits of our investments in innovation and technology. Customer Connect is supporting productivity and enhancing customer experience, Page Insights is providing real time data to inform business decisions for both Page and our customers, and we continue to work with our partners to deploy AI and automation tools into our working environment. ‘Despite the uncertain outlook due to the unpredictable economic environment, we have a highly diversified and adaptable business model, a strong balance sheet and our cost base is under continuous review.’ PageGroup shares fell 1.5% to 263.90 pence each on Tuesday morning in London. Copyright 2025 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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