Michael Page suffers interim profits slump
Tough times continue in the domestic recruitment market for Michael Page
Finance recruiter Michael Page saw interim profits slump by 49% to £43.2m,
with the UK market ‘weak across all disiplines’.
Michael
Page saw revenues fall to £365m for the six months ending 30 June
2009, from £500m a year earlier.
Representing 32% of the group’s gross prfit, the UK revenues revenues
decreased by 27% to £138m, with operating profit falling to £6m.
It wasn’t all bad news, with the recruiter stating that there was some
stabilisation in certain markets in the UK.
It didn’t anticipate further business-wide job cuts in its UK operations,
with some teams hiring to increase the rate of gain of market share.
‘We continue to adjust our headcount in response to market conditions,
retaining our more experienced and stronger people. In the last twelve months we
have reduced headcount by a third, largely through natural attrition, and with a
lower cost base we have remained profitable in the first half of 2009,’ said
chief executive Steve Ingham.
