PageGroup (PAGE) swung to a pre-tax loss in the first half, as the pandemic continued to bite the global hiring market. The recruiter trimmed its headcount by almost a tenth at the end of June, jettisoning recent arrivals and other employees on the back of performance reviews.
In the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region, Page’s biggest market, gross profits dropped by more than a quarter. France and Southern Europe were the most severely impacted, with revenues down by around a third in both locales. Its German operations, which management categorises as a high-potential market, fared better – down 12 per cent overall.
The Asia Pacific region, which has endured the effects of coronavirus for a longer period, recorded a £3.6m loss at the operating level. But management noted that its consultants have returned to conventional office-working arrangements in mainland China, which is also witnessing signs of a recovery in trading conditions. Still, revenues were down 28 per cent in the region, and in Hong Kong sales slid by more than half, as the fallout of the pandemic was compounded by political protests.
PageGroup pushed down its cost base by just over a fifth, as management implemented reduced working weeks and asked employees to sacrifice parts of their salary.
FactSet's consensus forecast EPS for the full year is 4.12p, rising to 20.37p in 2021.
| PAGEGROUP (PAGE) | ||||
| ORD PRICE: | 383p | MARKET VALUE: | £1.26bn | |
| TOUCH: | 383-384p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 534p | LOW: 280p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | nil | PE RATIO | na | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 102p | NET CASH: | £40.7m | |
| Half-year to 30 Jun | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
| 2019 | 821 | 74.6 | 16.8 | 4.30 |
| 2020 | 655 | -0.75 | -0.50 | nil |
| % change | -20 | - | - | - |
| Ex-div: | na | |||
| Payment: | na | |||
