Dutch staffing firm USG People (USG: NV) reported revenue of €646.1 million, an organic increase of 13% compared with €570.7 million during the same period last year for the first quarter ending 31 March 2016.

The company says the number of working days was on average 0.1 lower than in the first quarter last year, which had an impact of -0.2% on revenue growth. Revenue per working day grew 13.4%. Revenue from recruitment and selection was 0.9% of total group revenue in the first quarter compared to 1.0% in the first quarter last year.

"Our growth trend continued unabated in the first quarter," Rob Zandbergen, CEO of USG People, said. "Our revenue increased by 13%. Growth continued to strengthen, particularly in the markets that are most important to us, i.e. the Netherlands and Belgium, where we amply outperformed the market. In France, we were also able to maintain our edge in the market. Growth in Germany was in line with the market, where growth is slower than in the other regions.”

“Much of the growth came from our volume clients who are expanding their capacity and structuring it more flexibly, enabling us to keep the costs virtually stable amid high growth,” Zandbergen said. “Despite the impact of the early Easter weekend, which fell in the first quarter this year, we were able to further improve our results. We achieved an incremental conversion rate of 56% on the gross margin and EBITA, while net income increased by 26%. The focus for the coming quarters will also be on accelerating revenue growth in the SME segment."

In December 2015, USG People and Japanese staffing firm Recruit Holdings had first announced a conditional agreement for the Recruit to buy USG People for €1.42 billion. The European Commission approved the acquisition in March and Recruit launched the public offer in the following month.

According to USG People, the completion of the offer is expected to be complete in June 2016.

The company also showed market growth in the Netherlands and Belgium in March. Broken down geographically, USG People reported revenue in Q1 2015 as follows:

The company commented in its press release: “The positive development of our revenue and results continued into April. We continue to maintain our sharp focus on commercial and operational excellence as well as on innovation in order to help our clients forward and to be able to take maximum advantage of the developments in our markets,”

In trading today, USG People traded at €17.40, up 0.03% on the day and 0.11% below its 52-week high of €17.42, set on 27 April 2016. Based on its current share price, the company has a market value of €1.41 billion.