Sweden-based healthcare and education staffing firm NGS Group AB (NGS: SS) reported revenue today for the first quarter ended 31 March 2020 declined by 21.8% from the year-ago quarter.

Revenue by Geography

CEO Ingrid Nordlund said the first quarter was characterised by a weak development with sales and profit loss compared to the corresponding quarter last year. This was largely due to the continued purchasing stoppages and restrictiveness of the healthcare services orders introduced in 2019 by a number of regions.

“At the end of the first quarter, we were affected by the outbreak of the corona virus Covid-19, with reduced demand from our customers caused by uncertainty and restrictions as a result of the pandemic,” Nordlund said.

“The end of the quarter was characterized by increased demand initiated by the coronavirus in parts of the care, while other parts were severely limited. Our assignments in intensive care-related care increased, while planned specialist care and assignments at health centers decreased,” Nordlund added. Nordlund also said school staffing declined sharply at the end of the quarter.

“Our customers, who are primarily in the public sector, have had their focus on managing the corona crisis in their organisations. Based on the situation that has arisen, specialist recruitment and interim operations in the private sector have met reduced demand from customers, which had a negative impact on sales in the quarter,” Nordlund said.

“Depending on the market situation, we adapt our operations day by day to find new opportunities in a rapidly changing world,” Nordlund concluded.

As of last trade NGS Group traded at SEK 13.80 (€1.27), down 4.17% on the day 9.52% above its 52-week low of SEK 12.60 (€1.16), set on 17 March 2020. Based on its current share price the company has a market value of SEK 129.93 million (€11.9 million).