PageGroup raises profit target again as labour market rebounds

Recruiter PageGroup has increased its profit target for the third time in six months after it continued to see strong hiring levels for the past two months.

The FTSE 250 company saw shares rise on Tuesday morning after it revealed strong trade and profitability for the period from October 1 to November 30.

It said the “positive momentum” and labour market trends it had already seen during 2021 “continued at both a regional and global level in the period”.

PageGroup told investors it saw sales growth of 16% in October against pre-pandemic levels.

It added that this accelerated to 26% growth against pre-pandemic levels in November as vacancy numbers continued to grow.

As a result, the recruitment firm said it now expects to post an operating profit of around £165 million for the current full year.

PageGroup had previously forecast an operating profit of around £155 million.

Last year, it saw profit slide dramatically to £17 million due to the impact of the pandemic, from £146.7 million in 2019.

It comes after the group had already increased its profit outlook in updates in both July and October.

The recruitment sector has benefited from labour shortages across many sectors as the economy reopened, with firms competing for new hires.

Latest official data showed that job vacancies soared 222,000 quarter on quarter to a record 1.17 million in the three months to October.

Shares were up 3.7% at 677p on Tuesday morning.