Dedicare (DEDI: SS), a Swedish staffing firm, reported revenue for the second quarter ending 30 June 2019 of SEK 195.5 million (€18.5 million), a fall of 4.4% compared with the same period last year.

Dedicare said its reduced revenue and profits are attributable to its operations in Sweden. This was the same trend seen in the previous quarter when revenue and profits also decreased.  The company said this trend was caused partly by increased wage levels to staffing consultants (nurses / doctors) and partly because the market for social workers has decreased.

In Norway the group said its operations are developing ‘very well’ with growth both in sales and earnings.

“The improved result is because we managed to hire more staff consultants; doctors, nurses and educators, and increased sales to both existing and new customers,” Krister Widström, CEO of Dedicare, said. “During the period, we signed a new agreement with all hospitals in Norway, an agreement that is valid for four years. During the past four years, Dedicare has been Norway's largest supplier of healthcare consultants to the Norwegian hospitals.”

Dedicare said its ‘New Markets’ segment which includes Finland and Denmark, generated their first revenues of SEK 0.4 million and charged SEK 1.1 million to earnings.

In April 2019, Dedicare announced that CFO Eva Jonbacker stepped down from her role effective immediately. Jenny Pizzignacco, a business development manager at Dedicare, took over the role and will remain in the role until a successor is found.

Dedicare also published results for the first six months ended 30 June 2019.

As of last trade, Dedicare shares traded at SEK 47.95 (€4.55), down 1.34% on the day and 29.25% above the 52 week low of SEK 37.10 (€3.52) set on 7 June 2019. Based on its current share price the company has a market value of SEK 342.31 million (€32.5 million).