Michael Page saw its share price drop almost 7% today after the white collar recruiter admitted it had seen a double-digit plunge in profit at its French and German offices in the first three months of 2013.
Chief executive Steve Ingham said Page’s businesses in France and Germany focus on permanent jobs, and a lack of those saw profit in the period drop 17% and 27% respectively and pushed group profit down 7% to £127 million in the quarter.
Ingham added, however, that the same quarter a year earlier had been particularly “strong” and that the group profit was 0.2% higher than the fourth quarter.
“We saw good performances in some of our regions with Asia and North America delivering the strongest gross profit performances, up 14% and 16% respectively year-on-year,” Ingham said. He flagged up Page offices in China, Japan, Mexico, he Middle East, and the USA as good performers – but warned the second quarter would be “challenging.”
Page axed 57 of its own staff in the three months, taking total headcount to 5,042, and warned: “We continue to actively adjust our cost base.”
In the City, analysts were gloomy. “A first quarter update does little to dispel our fears that trading remains tough in recruitment markets, and that there is little signs either of market stability or in a return to growth,” said Paul Jones at Panmure Gordon.
Shares fell 29.3p to 370p.
