First-quarter revenue at SFN Group Inc. (NYSE: SFN) rose 8.7% from the year-ago quarter to $463.1 million. Growth segments for the Fort Lauderdale-based staffing firm included industrial staffing and finance/accounting.

SFN's light industrial staffing revenue totaled $104.7 million in the first quarter, up 26.1% from the same period last year. However, first-quarter office/clerical revenue fell 7.0% to $138.9 million.

In the company's professional segment, revenue rose 13.4% to $219.6 million.

"Our focus on the expansion of professional services has increased that portion of the company to 47% of total revenues and 59% of total gross profit," President and CEO Roy Krause said in a press release. "Within that segment, both SourceRight Solutions and Tatum are uniquely positioned to allow us to take market leadership positions in outsourcing services and services to the office of CFO."

SFN group announced on Feb. 3 that it acquired Tatum LLC, an Atlanta-based firm that provides chief financial officer staffing as well as CFO-related services and consulting.

Within the professional segment, finance/accounting revenue rose 57.8% to $35.0 million, and information technology revenue rose 0.7% to $118.0 million.

SFN's gross margin narrowed to 18.2% from 19.5% in the year-ago quarter.

The company posted a first-quarter net loss of approximately $3.2 million compared with a net loss of $6.7 million in the first quarter of last year.

SFN Group Inc. (NYSE: SFN)
For the first quarter ended March 28, 2010, compared with the same period in 2009.
Revenue: $463.1 million, +8.7%
Net loss: $3.2 million vs. net loss of $6.7 million