Staffline shares fall on reduced profit

Outsourcing company Staffline posted a pre-tax loss of £854,000, less than half of the £1.945m it made in the same six months last year.

Shares in the AIM listed company dipped following the result, falling by 1.623% to 1389p at 1389 BST.

The company said the profit for the first half of this year was down due to exceptional items, such as costs associate with new acquisitions.

Revenues were up 42.9% to £297.2m from £208.1m in 2014, of which new additions Avanta and A4e contributed £44m.
The board proposed an interim dividend of 7.5p, up 50% from 5p, payable on 13 November 2015 to shareholders on the register at 16 October 2015.

Staffline indicated it was confident it would meet current market expectations for the year.