Matchtech's (MTEC) acquisition of recruitment specialist Networkers in April depressed the group's full-year pre-tax profit. However, even without the £4.4m in one-off costs, growth was sluggish for the engineering recruitment agency. Group net fee income (NFI) - revenue less contractor payroll costs - grew by a fifth to £55m. However, this was thanks to the four-month trading contribution from Networkers - NFI for Matchtech alone grew by just £0.3m to £45.3m last year.
Revenue for the group's core engineering recruitment business was broadly flat at around £312m, while gross profit grew 6 per cent to £28.7m. The business benefited from recruiting workers for key infrastructure projects including the Thames Tideway Tunnel and the HS2 high speed rail link. However, the engineering business was held back by weak energy markets.
Professional services recruitment has been the real lame duck for Matchtech and as a result management decided to close the London office of its Barclay Meade business. NFI for professional services was down 7 per cent to £16.6m last year.
Broker Numis Securities expects adjusted EPS of 47.8p for the July 2016 year-end, up from 43.2p in 2015.
MATCHTECH (MTEC) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 510p | MARKET VALUE: | £155m | |
| TOUCH: | 505-510p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 585p | LOW: 485p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 4.3% | PE RATIO: | 16 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 252p* | NET DEBT: | 44% | |
| Year to 31 Jul | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 302 | 6.4 | 20.3 | 15.6 |
| 2012 | 371 | 8.0 | 24.3 | 15.6 |
| 2013 | 409 | 9.9 | 32.0 | 18.0 |
| 2014 | 452 | 11.9 | 37.0 | 20.0 |
| 2015 | 502 | 11.3 | 31.0 | 22.0 |
| % change | +11 | -5 | -16 | +10 |
Ex-div: 12 Nov Payment: 11 Dec *includes intangible assets of £52m, or 172p a share | ||||
