Swedish healthcare recruiter Dedicare (DEDI:STO) reported total revenues of €15.9 million (SEK 136.8 million) during the fourth quarter, a +17% rise from a year ago. The growth was helped by recent contract wins in the healthcare sector.

But operating income in the three months to December fell to €0.5 million (SEK 4.0) million from €0.8 million (SEK 6.6 million) a year ago. Profit after tax (net income) was €0.3 million (SEK 2.8 million), compared to €0.54 million (SEK 4.7 million) in the previous year.

But full-year net income grew by +47% to €2.6 million (SEK 22.6 million) while revenue in 2012 jumped +34% to €65 million (SEK 544.7 million).

The firm also announced an important contract win with HINAS, a company responsible for coordinating public procurement on behalf of the Norwegian Health enterprises. The agreement came into force at the start of February and will run for two years.

In early trading, the company’s share price fell -9.6% to SEK 31, up +29.2% from a year ago. Based on the stock price, the firm has a market value of €35.6 million (SEK 305.88 million). Dedicare is a Sweden-based company, and specialises in the recruitment of medical doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers across the Nordic countries.

According to research by Staffing Industry Analysts, the European healthcare staffing market was worth €5.2 billion in 2011 and made up around 5% of the total European staffing market.