Barrett Business Services Inc. (NASD: BBSI), a provider of staffing and professional employer organization services, reported net revenue rose 10.9% in the second quarter. However, the Vancouver, Wash.-based firm reported that while same customer sales rose over the first quarter, they lagged its historical average.

As a result, the company lowered its outlook for gross revenue for the next 12 months to 15% growth from 16% growth. Gross revenue includes net revenue as well as direct payroll costs and safety incentives. Gross revenue was $1.26 billion in the second quarter.

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“We had a strong quarter represented by record gross client additions while maintaining retention of greater than 90%,” said President and CEO Michael Elich. “In the second quarter, we added 269 net new clients, driven in part by strong growth across all markets, underscoring the consistency of our model and width of new business pipelines. Same-customer sales were up 7.6%, an improvement over the first quarter but still lagging our historical average. Given this dynamic, we have decided to slightly lower our full-year and rolling 12-month outlook.”

Revenue by segment

Share price and market cap

Barrett shares fell 16.5% in early afternoon trading to $45.04. The company had a market cap $326.62 million, according to Yahoo.