Recruiter Staffline (STAF) ended the last financial year by narrowly failing to “burst a billion”, with revenues of £958m falling short of its target. Its latest plan is to become a new type of recruitment company – one that leans on technology to attract, retain and learn from its workers, while reducing its reliance on central government contracts.
Providing blue-collar temporary work has historically been viewed as a low-margin, unskilled industry, but Staffline aims to change this perception with the launch of a digital platform to help match the right people to specific roles. It is hoped this will lead to greater efficiency and – eventually – a potential new revenue stream as the data collected can be sold back to the companies that employ its workers. Six months in, and the initiatives are showing promise, with organic revenue growth of 5 per cent in the recruitment division.
Peopleplus, the training and skills division, is in the process of transitioning away from providing back-to-work services for the UK government’s work programme. Central government accounts for 60 per cent of the division's revenues, but management intends to bring this down to 25 per cent in coming years. A further 25 per cent comes from local and devolved government work and the remainder from the private sector.
Broker Liberum is forecasting adjusted pre tax profit of £37.2m in 2018, giving EPS of 115p (from £36.3m and 112.6p in 2017).
| STAFFLINE (STAF) | ||||
| ORD PRICE: | 1,050p | MARKET VALUE: | £293m | |
| TOUCH: | 1,048-1,052p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 1,270p | LOW: 880p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 2.6% | PE RATIO: | 12 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 356p* | NET DEBT: | 37% | |
| Half-year to 30 Jun | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
| 2017 | 428 | 6.3 | 14.3 | 11.0 |
| 2018 | 481 | 10.5 | 33.2 | 11.3 |
| % change | +12 | +67 | +132 | +3 |
| Ex-div: | 11 Oct | |||
| Payment: | 13 Nov | |||
| *Includes intangible assets of £134m, or 481p a share | ||||
