Brunel International NV (BRNL:AEX), the Netherlands-based global energy staffing firm reported revenue today of €316.9 million for the first quarter ended 31 March 2023, an increase of 19% on a like-for-like basis when compared to the prior-year quarter.

The largest growth was seen in the Americas, Asia, Australasia and Middle East & India.

The group noted that following strong growth in the Asia region for the past consecutive quarters, it began separate reporting on the region as of 2023.

Jilko Andringa, CEO of Brunel International, said, “We continued to demonstrate strong organic revenue growth across all regions and in all strategic markets. The expected development of our chosen focus markets continues to be very positive and that’s why we continue to invest accordingly in our organisation. We were able to mostly offset inflation-related salary increases as well as higher costs associated with continued growth-related investments. As a result, our like-for-like EBIT increased by 6%.”

Gross profit was up by 11% but gross margin for the group decreased slightly, mainly as a result in the continued change in mix between the regions.

Revenue by Geography

The DACH region includes Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Czech Republic. Revenue per working day in DACH increased by 9.5%, as a result of a higher number of specialists working at Brunel’s clients, and increased rates.

Revenue per working day in The Netherlands increased by 7.6%. The increase is mainly the result of higher headcount and higher rates, partially offset by the lower productivity due to higher bench. The business lines Finance & risk and Legal are the main driver of the growth.

Australasia includes Australia and Papua New Guinea. Growth in the region continues to be driven by conventional energy and mining clients.

Middle East & India includes Qatar, Kuwait, Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and India. All countries contributed to the strong revenue increase, mainly driven by new projects with both existing and new clients.

Americas saw continued strong growth in its main markets, USA and Brazil. The growth is mainly driven by conventional energy and mining clients, with a number of bigger projects in Canada completed in Q1 2023.

Asia includes, Singapore, China, Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia. Due to the high level of activity at energy and mining clients, strong growth was achieved in almost all countries in this region.

Rest of World includes Taylor Hopkinson (renewables recruitment specialist), Belgium and the group’s other energy activities in Europe. In Q1 2022, this region also still included Russia where activities were divested in Q2 2022. On a like-for-like basis (excluding Russia) revenue was up 16% and EBIT was stable versus Q1 2022. Taylor Hopkinson performed in line with Q1 2022. Their offshore wind activities are slightly impacted by seasonality, with a typically lower activity level in Q1 which has recently started to pick up strongly again.

Looking ahead, Brunel expects the current favourable trends to continue throughout Q2 2023, with the normal seasonality.

“Brunel is getting stronger and stronger, with all regions maturing and contributing to our strategic profitability goal,” Andringa said. “We remain ahead of our plan with a sustained focus on multi year, high single digit growth and profitability enhancement across our regions, aimed at achieving a higher than 6% EBIT in 2025.”

Brunel International shares last traded at €12.16, up 1.16% on the day and 7.46% below its 52-week high of €13.14, set on 18 April 2023. The company has a market cap of €607.91 million.