Dedicare (DEDI: SS), a Swedish staffing firm, reported revenue for the first quarter ending 31 March 2018 of SEK 193.4 million (€18.5 million), a decrease of 3.7% compared with the same period last year.

The group's operating profit for the period fell by 48.6%, with an operating margin of 6.7%, down from 12.6% last year. Dedicare stated that the decrease in operating margin was due in part to the lack of doctors, nurses and social workers. Dedicare also cited increased competition in the market that forced wages and fees to their staffing consultants.

"We see continued good demand for services in health, social work and education in Sweden and in Norway, but competition in the market is tough, which pushes our margins and makes it difficult to find enough staffing consultants to meet customer needs,” Krister Widström, CEO of Dedicare, said.

Revenue was broken down as follows.

Last month, Dedicare announced that its CFO, Lia Sandström, resigned from the company. Sandström will remain in the position until a successor for the role is found.

As of last trade Dedicare traded at SEK 70.50 (€6.67), down 8.56% on the day and 3.68% above its 52-week low of SEK 68.00 (€6.52), set on 14 February 2018. Based on its current share price the company has a market value of SEK 593.06 million (€56.9 million).