Empresaria (AIM: EMR), the international specialist staffing group, reported revenue today for the year ended 31 December 2021 of £258.4 million, an increase of 4% in constant currency, when compared to last year.

Net fee income climbed 14% in constant currency during the full year period. H2 net fee income was up 26% in constant currency.

Adjusted profit before tax was up 65% to £8.6 million.

The group highlighted its Offshore Recruitment Services and Healthcare sectors as reporting ‘particularly strong’ performances and record net fee income and profit levels during the year.

Empresaria added that it made significant investments throughout 2021 to drive the future growth of the group. This included the appointment of highly experienced industry professionals into new roles leading UK & Europe, APAC and North America. The group also appointed a new Chief Marketing Officer, Lucy Sharp, who will drive the global brand and communications strategy for the group.

Chief Executive Officer, Rhona Driggs, said, "We are pleased to have delivered 65% growth in profit (adjusted profit before tax) and progressive growth in net fee income, again supported by our diversity by both geography and sector. The shift from recovery mode to growth mode has enabled us to continue to make significant investments in the future of the Group both in our leadership team and our technology.”

“Our teams around the world have done an incredible job of navigating the pandemic in 2021 and I am proud of their continued resilience and commitment,” Driggs continued. “We have made great progress with our ‘Stronger Together’ initiatives, which are aimed at driving greater synergies and collaboration across the group and it is particularly pleasing to see the impact this has had on our culture.”

Revenue by Segment

In the Professional sector, net fee income for the full year was up 14% year-on-year (up 16% in constant currency). Revenue fell due to the ongoing Covid-19 related issues in aviation.

The IT sector delivered solid growth in net fee income which was up 5% on 2020 (10% in constant currency), with a 10% year-on-year fall in revenue, reflecting challenges in the UK. The UK business has continued to experience challenges with temporary and contract numbers which continued to fall in the first half of the year and did not recover as much as expected in the second half. 

The Healthcare sector reported double the revenue of 2020, 68% growth in net fee income (75% in constant currency) and 250% growth in profit.

The Property, Construction & Engineering sector is the group's smallest sector and is wholly UK based. The operation focuses on supplying sales staff to the new home sector alongside building management systems workers. The group said it has not seen any significant recovery in this sector with net fee income flat year-on-year. Losses have been minimised, halving to £0.1 million.

The Commercial Sector had a mixed year with results in line with 2020, and with a large variation in underlying performances.

The Offshore Recruitment Services sector saw net fee income increase by 26% over 2020 (35% in constant currency) and adjusted operating profit increasing by 58% (71% in constant currency). At the start of the year it closed its operations in UAE after a number of years of losses. Excluding this business net fee income grew by 43% (54% in constant currency).

By region, the UK recovered strongly in 2021 with year-on-year growth of 10% in net fee income and 200% growth in profits. Revenue was down 5% reflecting challenges with temporary and contract recruitment in the IT sector and a change in mix with permanent recruitment recovering at a faster rate. All of the group’s UK operations delivered improvements in profit compared to 2020.

Continental Europe reported results in line with the prior year. The positive performances in the group’s Commercial sector temporary staffing businesses in Germany and Austria along with the Healthcare business in Finland offset the challenges in the Commercial sector logistics business in Germany.

Asia Pacific reported a 12% increase in net fee income and a 61% increase in profit. The drop in revenue was due to the ongoing challenges in the Professional sector aviation operation which has high revenue, low margin temporary contracts. All other businesses in the region delivered growth in both net fee income and profits, with the most significant profit driver being the Offshore Recruitment Services operation in India.

In the Americas, both revenue and net fee income grew by 27% with profit more than doubling to £2.9 million. Growth was driven by the US IT and Healthcare operations. In the Commercial sector the group reported growth in Chile but this was offset by a weaker performance in Peru.

Looking ahead, Driggs said, “We look forward to the year ahead with optimism. Our steadfast focus on our strategic initiatives along with the investments we have made leave us well positioned for growth and we are confident on demonstrating this potential in 2022."

On the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Driggs said, “I also want to acknowledge the devastating events unfolding in Ukraine. Our heartfelt thoughts go out to all the people in Ukraine. We are actively looking at ways in which our businesses can contribute to helping those impacted by the conflict. It is too early to know how the developing situation will affect the global economy. We are not experiencing any significant direct impact at present as we do not have operations in either Russia or Ukraine.”

As of last trade Empresaria Group traded at £80.50, no change on the day and 14.36% below its 52-week high of £94.00, set on 17 August 2021. The company has a market cap of £40.13 million.