Irish recruitment firm Cpl Resources (CPL: ID), reported revenue for the first half ended 31 December 2018 of €278.6 million, an increase of 9% compared to the previous year.

Cpl Resources said growth across the board was underpinned by strong growth in its Finance and Technology divisions.

Net fee income for permanent placements grew by 3% to €13.8 million, while net fee income for flexible talent (temporary and contract) increased by 19% to €32.6 million.

Permanent recruitment’s performance during the period was driven by significant increases in the Finance and Technology divisions. The group’s flexible talent division now equates to 70% of total net fee income (2017: 68%).

The group increased its gross margin to 16.7% (2017: 15.8%) and its adjusted operating margin to 4.16% (2017: 3.64%).

Cpl Resources also announced that Oliver Tattan is retiring from the Board. Tattan had been a non-executive director of the group since 2007.

The group also announced that it has appointed a Technology Advisory Board - a panel of experts that will advise and guide Cpl on its technology and digital strategy. 

John Hennessy, Chairman of Cpl, commented on the group’s outlook: “As we move into the second half of our financial year we are closely monitoring activity levels in our key markets. We remain conscious of the impact of political, regulatory and economic events globally on our business, in particular Brexit.”

“We operate in a cyclical industry which is sensitive to changes in economic activity within our core markets. While our business model has evolved over the years to include more forward secured revenue streams, a material proportion of our net fee income has short term visibility,” Hennessy said.

Current market conditions are favourable with high demand for talent and low unemployment rates in our key markets. We remain confident in the outlook for the business and expect to deliver continued profitable growth for the remainder of the financial year,” Hennessy said.

As of last trade CPL Resources traded at €5.94, no change on the day and 9.19% above its 52-week low of €5.44, set on 17 December 2018. Based on its current share price the company has a market value of €163.0 million.