PageGroup swings to interim profit, declares special dividend

Recruitment firm PageGroup said on Monday that it swung to an interim profit, having taken a hit in the previous year due to the pandemic, as it declared a special dividend.

In the six months to the end of June 2021, the company swung to a pre-tax profit of £63.7m from a loss of £800,000 in the first half a year prior as revenue rose to £766.4m from £655m. Group operating profit was £64.3m, up from £400,000 the year before.

PageGroup said total headcount rose 5.7% to 7,075 at the end of June, but remains down around 8% on pre-Covid levels at the end of 2019.

Chief executive officer Steve Ingham said: "Due to the uncertain trading conditions caused by Covid-19 last year, we chose to temporarily suspend our dividend policy and cancel our 2019 final dividend.

"Given the improvement in trading conditions in H1, as well as our strong liquidity position, the board has decided to reinstate our dividend policy. As such, we are announcing today an interim dividend of 4.70 pence per share, an increase of 9.3% on the 2019 interim dividend. In addition, in line with our policy of returning surplus capital to shareholders, we are also pleased to announce a special dividend of 26.71 pence per share, totalling £85m. Taking both dividends together, this amounts to a cash return to shareholders of £100m, payable on 13 October.

"Looking ahead, there continues to be a high degree of global macro-economic uncertainty as Covid-19 remains a significant issue and restrictions continue in a number of the group's markets. Additionally, at this stage of the recovery, it is not clear whether the improved performance is still the result of pent-up supply and demand, or a sustainable trend."

Nevertheless, PageGroup continues to expect full-year operating profit of between £125m and £135m.