Revenue falls 11.1% to £798.4 million and operating profit plunging 92.5% to £2.1 million
LONDON: PageGroup Plc, the specialist professional recruitment company, reported a sharp drop in its first-half financial results, with profit before tax plummeting 99.2% to £0.2 million compared to the same period last year.
The company’s interim report, released Tuesday, showed revenue falling 11.1% to £798.4 million and operating profit plunging 92.5% to £2.1 million.
The company attributed the downturn to “ongoing macro-economic uncertainty” and “subdued levels of client and candidate confidence,” which impacted decision-making and extended time-to-hire.
Nicholas Kirk, the chief executive officer, said the company has taken “robust action to optimize our cost base” by simplifying its management structure and improving the efficiency of business support functions. These restructuring efforts resulted in approximately £13 million in one-off costs during the first half of 2025, with an expected total of £15 million for the full year. The company anticipates these changes will lead to annualized savings of about £15 million from 2026.
Despite the challenging market, PageGroup’s board maintained the interim dividend at 5.36 pence per share, in line with 2024. The company’s full-year outlook remains stable, with the board expecting operating profit to be “broadly in line with current market consensus of c. £22m.”
The report noted mixed results across the group’s operations. While some markets like Asia and the U.S. showed improvement in activity and confidence, trading in Continental Europe, particularly France and Germany, saw a slight deterioration. The company’s strategy continues to focus on reallocating resources to areas with long-term opportunities, such as its Page Executive and Enterprise Solutions businesses, which showed more resilient performance.
PageGroup also highlighted its progress on strategic goals, including its social impact target of “changing one million lives” and improving its client net promoter score (NPS). The company’s NPS score improved to 66 in the first half of 2025, exceeding its 2030 target of over 60.
The report concluded that while the economic environment remains unpredictable, the company’s “highly diversified and adaptable business model” and “strong balance sheet” position it to navigate the uncertain outlook.