Swedish staffing firm Poolia (POOLB: SS), which merged with Uniflex in 2018, reported revenue for the first quarter ending 31 March 2019 of SEK 435.8 million (€40.7 million), down 8.7% compared to the previous year.

Due to the merger between Poolia and Uniflex, which was completed on 31 October 2018, the first quarter figures refer to the results of both companies. The group elected to recalculate its comparative figures, whereby the merger has been reported as if it had taken place on 1 January 2017. As a result, comparative figures for 2017 include Uniflex's income, expenses, assets and liabilities. Periods before 2017 have not been recalculated, so comparisons with these have not been calculated.

The group said a slower demand for services in Sweden contributed to the decline in revenue. It added that the decrease was in line with market expectations.

On 1 April 2019, Poolia announced that it has acquired a 51% stake in Student Node AB, a company based in Sweden that organises events for students at universities and colleges.

In the Poolia section, the geographical segments comprise Sweden, Germany and Finland. For Uniflex, the geographical segments comprise of Sweden, Norway and Finland.

Revenue by geography

In Poolia Germany, the effects of labour legislation changes had a significantly greater negative impact on Poolia than was expected. According to the group, measures to reverse negative trend in the German operations began in Q1.

The group said it continued to see strong growth in Poolia Finland and Uniflex Norway.

Poolia said the decline in Uniflex Sweden was expected to be on a par with the market in general and was mainly due to a weakened demand from the construction sector and the automotive industry.

In trading on Friday, Poolia traded at SEK 7.22 (€0.67), down 1.9% on the day. Based on its current share price the company has a market value of SEK 250.41 million (€23.40 million).