Net sales for the third quarter at NGS Group AB (NGS: SS), the Swedish healthcare and education staffing firm, were reported as SEK 141.9 (€13.8 million), a decrease of 15.7% compared to the same period last year.

The third-quarter results are a further decline from the group’s second quarter results.

“The third quarter continued to be characterised by challenges in parts of the crew segment, while other parts of the business continue to develop positively,” Ingrid Nordlund, CEO, said. “Our leadership management business has a sound business with good demand for our services. Nursing staff shows continued growth with good margins while the medical staff has unchanged low margins and an even more restrictive purchasing pattern among our customers.”

For its operating profit, the group said the decrease is a result of a combination of sales staff turnover and a fluctuating revenue flow between the quarters of the group’s Leadership segment.

In the Leadership segment, the group said that demand performed well for both interim and recruitment services among all categories. “We still see a good business position in this segment,” the group stated. The company added that growth also came from Source, a company it acquired in June 2017, and from Human Capital, which the group acquired in 2016.

“We developed our specialist recruitment business and during the quarter, we started an initiative in the field of law, where there is strong demand in the market,” Nordlund said. The group added that it made investments in new areas regarding managerial recruitment and social workforce management.

In the Crew segment, the group said it had worked on developing existing agreements and had increased the number of new customers within existing framework agreements. “This is ongoing and remains a focus in all areas of activity,” Nordlund said.

“The development of medical staff is difficult to assess in the short term, but our long-term financial targets are fixed over time as most of our operations are developing well and have a good potential to contribute to greater profitability,” Nordlund said.

In trading yesterday, NGS Group set a new 52-week low when it reached SEK 24.50 (€2.38). Over this period, the share price is down -47.42%. Shares closed at SEK 25.50 (€2.48), up 1.59% on the day. Based on its current share price the company has a market value of SEK 226.47 million (€22.0 million).