SThree 1H Pretax Profit More Than Doubles On Lower Staff Cost

19th Jul 2010 07:20

LONDON (Dow Jones)--Recruitment company SThree PLC (STHR.LN) Monday said first-half pretax profit more than doubled after it reduced its staffing significantly on the year. The company said the recruitment market is improving but not yet fully recovered, and compared with the extremely distressed market last year, the first half of 2010 saw more benign conditions. It added that it has had a strong start to second half with gross profit in June up 15% on year due to a significant increase in permanent recruitment. For the six months to May 30, SThree posted pretax profit of GBP7.3 compared with GBP2.7 million in the same period a year earlier. Revenue fell to GBP221.7 million from GBP280.6 million and the interim dividend was maintained at 4 pence a share. SThree said the year-on-year comparatives have been distorted because the average number of consultants in the first half was 24% lower on year following the restructuring it carried out in the second quarter of 2009. -By Rachael Gormley, Dow Jones Newswires; 44-20-7842-9308; [email protected] Order free Annual Report for SThree PLC Visit http://djnweurope.ar.wilink.com/?ticker=GB00B0KM9T71 or call +44 (0)208 391 6028 (END) Dow Jones Newswires July 19, 2010 02:20 ET (06:20 GMT)