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View All NewsPageGroup Q3 gross profit up 5.6%, but firm cites macroeconomic and political uncertainty
PageGroup gross profit rose 5.6% in constant currency in the third quarter, with the firm citing macroeconomic and political uncertainty. Gross profit at the UK-based staffing provider had risen 19.7% on a year-over-year basis in the third quarter of 2018.
“We saw standout performances in Germany, India and Latin America, as well as a strong performance in the US, despite a slowing financial services market in New York,” CEO Steve Ingham said. “However, we saw increasingly challenging trading conditions in many of our larger markets, including Greater China, the UK and France.”
Gross profit
| (£ millions) | Q3 2019 | Q3 2018 | % change | % change constant currency | Q3 2019 (US$ millions) |
| EMEA | £101.5 | £94.9 | 7.0% | 5.6% | $124.7 |
| Asia Pacific | £44.1 | £46.0 | -4.0% | -8.1% | $54.2 |
| Americas | £37.3 | £31.8 | 17.0% | 13.0% | $45.8 |
| UK | £33.8 | £35.2 | -4.1% | -4.1% | $41.5 |
| Total | £216.7 | £207.9 | 4.2% | 2.1% | $266.2 |
“Looking ahead, the deterioration in trading conditions seen during Q3 across the majority of our regions is anticipated to continue,” Ingham said. “In the UK, heightened Brexit-related uncertainty is expected to remain as we approach and go beyond 31 October. With worsening macro-economic indicators in Continental Europe, particularly in Germany, and in the US, there are signs that growth in these markets may slow.”
Looking at the third quarter of this year, PageGroup reported gross profit rose 14% in the US and was strongest in its offices outside of New York. Gross profit in Mexico, its largest country in the Latin American portion of the Americas region, saw gross profit rise 13%.
In the UK, the company cited Brexit-related uncertainty affecting candidate and client confidence.
The strongest gross profit among segments was in finance, where gross profit rose 6.1% on a constant currency basis.
Gross profit by segment
| (£ millions) | Q3 2019 | Q3 2018 | % change | % change constant currency | Q3 2019 (US$ millions) |
| Accounting and financial services | £78.3 | £72.5 | 7.9% | 6.1 | $96.2 |
| Legal, technology, HR, secretarial, healthcare | £53.0 | £50.2 | 5.5% | 3.1 | $65.1 |
| Engineering, property & construction, procurement & supply chain | £49.2 | £49.7 | -0.9% | -3.3 | $60.4 |
| Marketing, sales and retail | £36.2 | £35.5 | 2.2% | -0.2 | $44.5 |
| Total | £216.7 | £207.9 | 4.2% | 2.1 | $266.2 |
Share price and market cap
Today, PageGroup shares closed down 11.93% to £367.80; the company had a market cap of £1.37 billion, according to FT.com.