Third-quarter net revenue rose 13.9% at Barrett Business Services Inc. (NASD: BBSI). Net income at the Vancouver, Wash.-based provider of staffing and PEO services was $11.6 million, up from a net loss of $37.8 million in the year-ago quarter when the firm recorded an $80.0 million increase to its self-insured workers’ compensation reserve.

The company’s revenue growth came from the company’s PEO segment; staffing services revenue edged down.

Quote

“We delivered another quarter of strong results with gross revenues up 17%, surpassing a quarterly threshold of $1 billion for the first time in our company’s history,” said President and CEO Michael Elich. “These results were driven by the addition of 160 new client companies and 10.6% same-store sales growth. This was tempered by a slight year-over-year decline in our staffing business due to a decrease in seasonal employee hiring related to the West Coast drought, as well as a shortage in labor to meet the staffing demand in some of our markets.”

Elich continued, “These types of episodic fluctuations are not uncommon in the staffing industry and we expect the seasonal challenges to subside in our fourth quarter. We are not experiencing these same impacts in our PEO business, which comprises the majority of our revenues and, as such, we reiterate our rolling 12-month outlook of 18% gross revenue growth.”

Revenue by segment

Share price and market cap

Shares in Barrett rose 1.41% in early afternoon trading today to $45.33. The company had a market cap of approximately $326.47 million, according to Yahoo!