Empresaria reports ongoing market challenges

Specialist staffing firm Empresaria Group reported ongoing challenges in a trading update on Tuesday, due to difficult market conditions that had affected the industry for the past two years.

The AIM-traded company said that while the third quarter saw a slower decline in net fee income, down 4% year-on-year in constant currency, excluding exited operations, that was a slight improvement from the 9% year-on-year drop experienced in the first half of the year.

However, it said it now expected the fourth quarter to perform worse than previously forecast, with particularly tough conditions in Germany and a continued deterioration in Asia-Pacific markets, which had shown relative resilience earlier in the year.

Empresaria said it anticipated that the adverse conditions would persist into the first half of 2025, and as a result, full-year adjusted profit before tax was expected to be no less than £2m.

To manage its financial position, Empresaria said its bank had relaxed the interest cover covenant to 3x from 4x for the December testing period, ensuring compliance.

As of 30 September, the company reported adjusted net debt of £13.6m, with available headroom of £6.5m, excluding invoice financing.

The group said it was continuing to simplify its operations, completing the exit from another small business in the second half of the year, with another exit nearing completion.

Empresaria said it was maintaining strong cost controls and believed that the strategic actions would position it for growth when market conditions improved.

At 1128 BST, shares in Empresaria Group were down 21.74% at 27p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.