Recruiter Page sees boost as wages grow
8 August 2022, 09:24
The firm reported its headcount was up by more than 10% to 8,668 by the end of June.
Recruiter Page Group said on Monday that it has benefited from the higher wages paid to those that it hires for other companies.
The business said that it made around £82,800 in gross profit for every “fee earner” it has on the books in the first half of 2022. This is a 9.2% rise compared to the same period a year ago.
The business also reported that it had increased its headcount by more than 10% to 8,668 by the end of June.
Wages have been growing in recent months to at least take some of the edge off the cost of living, as inflation soars.
“This performance was achieved despite the backdrop of macro-economic and geo-political uncertainty as well as continued Covid-19 restrictions in certain markets,” said chief executive Steve Ingham.
“We believe that our strategy of maintaining and investing in our platform throughout the pandemic by investing in experienced hires and focusing on technology and innovation, has been key to us achieving these outstanding results.”
The business reported an 80% rise in pre-tax profits, which reached £114.5 million over the period.
Revenue rose by a little under 28% to £977.3 million, the company said.
Mr Ingham added: “Gross profit per fee earner, our measure of productivity, reached a new record level, up 9% on (the first half of) 2021.
“The group continued to benefit from favourable trading conditions, including wage inflation and increased fee rates resulting from the high demand and short supply of candidates, in addition to a shorter time to hire facilitated by video interviewing and investments in new systems.”
It said it would pay out another dividend, meaning that shareholders have pocketed £133.2 million so far this year.
The business said it invested to increase its headcount in Germany, the US and India – countries where it thinks it has the highest potential for growth.
“Looking forward, we recognise the heightened degree of global macro-economic and geo-political uncertainty, particularly with regards to increasing inflation around the world. In July, we noted a slight slowing in time to hire in some of our markets,” Mr Ingham said.
But the company is still on track to meet the market’s profit expectations, he added.
