Norman Broadbent reported yesterday group net fee income for Q4 2023 was up 13% to £2.6 million.

The UK-based executive search and recruitment firm (NBB: LSE) provided an unaudited trading update for the three months ended 31 December 2023 (Q4 2022) and the year ended 31 December 2022 (FY22).

For the full year 2023, net fee income was up 44% to £10.5 million (FY 2022: £7.3 million). Underlying EBITDA stood at approximately £0.9 million (FY 2022: £0.1m).

The company also posted profit before tax of approximately £0.3 million, up over £0.6 million (FY 2022: loss before tax of £0.3 million) and was net cash flow positive in the year.

Kevin Davidson, Group CEO of Norman Broadbent, said, “Our strategic plan continues to deliver and I thank the whole team for their outstanding performance. In the two years since we started this journey, and amid challenging market conditions, we have almost doubled net fee income, increased profit before tax by over £0.9 million, returned to meaningful profitability and become net cash flow positive. This success is attributed to the strength of our team, the quality hires we have made and our continued focus on productivity improvements across the business.”

Davidson continued, “While the executive search and broader recruitment markets were challenging in 2023, we have bucked the trend by growing the size of our team and still delivered a strong set of financial results. In 2024, we plan to continue to invest and pursue our aggressive growth strategy, whilst remaining profitable and generating positive net cash flows. This will be organically led, leveraging the renewed attractiveness of our brand proposition while exploring synergistic acquisition opportunities as appropriate.”

Norman Broadbent stated that its Q4 2023 positive run rate continuing into Q1 2024 with contracted revenue up 15% to £1.5 million (Q1 2023: £1.3 million).

“While being cognisant of the macroeconomic headwinds, the strong momentum established across the business and some easing of inflationary pressures in the economy mean that we are increasingly confident in our ability to overachieve against our previously stated target of £1.25 million of EBITDA in 2025,” Davidson said.

Norman Broadbent set a new 52-week high during yesterday’ trading session when it reached £7.81. Over this period, the share price is up 114.29%. Shares closed yesterday at £7.50, up 3.45% on the day. The company has a market cap of £4.63 million.