TIDMEMR
RNS Number : 7581Z
Empresaria Group PLC
27 January 2022
27 January 2022
Empresaria Group plc
("Empresaria" or the "Group")
Trading Update and Notice of Results
Strong net fee income growth with targeted investment to drive
future profitability
Empresaria (AIM: EMR), the global specialist staffing group,
today provides a trading update for the financial year ended 31
December 2021 ahead of announcing its full year results on 17 March
2022.
Trading update
-- Adjusted profit before tax expected to be slightly above
recently upgraded market expectations.
-- Net fee income up 10% to GBP59.5m (up 14% in constant
currency), H2 up by 21% (26% in constant currency).
-- Adjusted net debt of GBP14.0m, significantly lower than market expectations.
-- All five of our key sectors delivered year-on-year net fee
income growth (constant currency).
-- Very strong performance from Offshore Recruitment Services -
net fee income up 26% (35% in constant currency) and headcount now
above 2,000.
-- Invested in new regional structure and senior leadership team
and continued progress in our front office technology
implementation.
Net fee income recovery has continued, with the second half of
2021 up 21% on the second half of 2020 (26% in constant currency)
and the full year up 10% on prior year (14% in constant currency).
The Group's diversity by sector and geography, which helped
mitigate the impacts of COVID-19 in 2020, means that we are seeing
differences in growth rates across the Group with very strong
growth in some areas, such as Healthcare and Offshore Recruitment
Services, partially offset by more challenging conditions
elsewhere, such as in Commercial (logistics) and Professional
(aviation), as discussed in more detail below.
The Group invested significantly in its senior leadership during
2021 with the appointment of highly experienced industry
professionals into new roles leading UK & Europe, APAC and
North America. We are already seeing the benefits of this enhanced
team accelerating the execution of our strategy and growth plans
throughout the Group.
Going into 2022, we continue to experience favourable market
conditions across parts of the Group. We are investing in growing
our sales and recruitment teams in targeted markets to take
advantage of market recoveries and to accelerate long-term
growth.
Financial position
Adjusted net debt at 31 December 2021 was GBP14.0m, an increase
of GBP0.4m from 31 December 2020, and a decrease of GBP2.5m against
30 June 2021. As net fee income has recovered, working capital
requirements have increased, but these have been largely offset by
the cash generated by the business during the period. Headroom,
excluding invoice financing, remains strong at GBP12.9m.
Performance by sector
Net fee income by sector for the year ended 31 December:
% change
(constant
GBPm 2021 2020 % change currency)*
-------------------------------------- ------ ------ --------- ------------
Professional 17.6 15.4 +14% +16%
IT 13.3 12.7 +5% +10%
Healthcare 4.2 2.5 +68% +75%
Property, Construction & Engineering 0.7 0.7 - -
Commercial 17.2 17.2 - +4%
Offshore Recruitment Services 7.7 6.1 +26% +35%
Intragroup (1.2) (0.6) +100% +100%
-------------------------------------- ------ ------ --------- ------------
Total 59.5 54.0 +10% +14%
-------------------------------------- ------ ------ --------- ------------
* The constant currency movement is calculated by translating
the 2020 results at the 2021 exchange rates.
The Group's Professional sector has seen a strong recovery in
2021. This is despite the ongoing challenges in aviation,
particularly in Asia, which was previously a significant
contributor to this sector. Excluding aviation, net fee income was
up 27% with strong performances across all operations. Overall net
fee income was up 14% (up 16% in constant currency).
In IT, net fee income increased by 5% (up 10% in constant
currency). This was driven by very strong performances in both the
US and Japan offset by a fall in net fee income in the UK where
numbers for temporary staff have been slow to recover.
The Group's Healthcare sector delivered a record year with net
fee income up 68% compared to 2020 (up 75% in constant currency).
This was led by our US operations where additional demand was
driven by COVID-19 vaccination programmes.
In Property, Construction and Engineering, the Group's smallest
sector, net fee income was in line with prior year with demand for
new home sales temporary staff remaining muted.
The Group's Commercial sector delivered net fee income in line
with 2020, (up 4% in constant currency). Performance in this sector
has been mixed with strong recoveries in our temporary staffing
business in Germany and in our operations in Austria and Chile.
However, this has been offset by falls in net fee income in Peru
and in our logistics business in Germany, which, after a very
strong 2020, has experienced significant challenges in filling
lower paid roles as the economy and labour market have
recovered.
In Offshore Recruitment Services, net fee income was up 26% (up
35% in constant currency) after another very strong year. Recovery,
combined with new growth, has been rapid during 2021 with headcount
increasing by more than 900 to close the year at over 2,000.
Rhona Driggs, CEO of Empresaria, commented:
"We are pleased with our recovery in net fee income and
encouraged by the very strong recovery in our expected profits. Our
Healthcare and Offshore Recruitment Services sectors both delivered
particularly strong performances with record net fee income levels.
Although challenges remain in some of our markets, these have been
outweighed by positives elsewhere, highlighting the benefits of
being a geographically and operationally diverse Group.
As the year progressed, we shifted from recovery mode to growth
mode while continuing to make significant investments in driving
the future growth of the Group. This includes the appointment of
three new senior leaders who, working with our existing leadership,
will be instrumental in accelerating the delivery of the Group's
strategy. We have also continued to make progress on our technology
implementation with a further nine operations going live on our
common front office platform during the year.
As part of our strategy to accelerate the Group's growth, we are
making targeted investment in our sales and recruiting teams for
2022 in those areas where we see strong long-term growth
opportunities and to ensure that we realise the benefits we are
seeing from the talent shortages and wage inflation clients are
experiencing in some of our markets.
Looking ahead, we continue to see positive signs in many of our
markets. We are well positioned with the right leadership team and
structure, and we look forward to 2022 with optimism."
- Ends -
Enquiries:
Empresaria Group plc via Alma PR
Rhona Driggs, Chief Executive Officer
Tim Anderson, Chief Financial Officer
Singer Capital Markets (Nominated
Adviser and Broker)
Shaun Dobson / James Moat 020 7496 3000
Alma PR (Financial PR) 020 3405 0205
Sam Modlin empresaria@almapr.com
David Ison
Hilary Buchanan
Notes for editors:
-- Empresaria Group plc is a global specialist staffing group
offering temporary and contract recruitment, permanent recruitment
and offshore recruitment services across 6 sectors: Professional,
IT, Healthcare, Property, Construction and Engineering, Commercial
and Offshore Recruitment Services.
-- Empresaria operates from locations across the world including
the 4 largest staffing markets of the US, Japan, UK and Germany
along with a strong presence elsewhere in Asia Pacific and Latin
America.
-- Empresaria is listed on AIM under ticker EMR. For more
information visit empresaria.com.
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