Specialist IT staffing firm InterQuest Group (ITQ: LSE) reported revenue for the year ended 31 December 2017 of £135.9 million, down 5.3% compared to the previous year.

InterQuest stated that the primary cause of the group's reduction in revenue during 2017 was a reduction in contractor numbers in ECOM Recruitment Limited business and certain practices within its Enterprise business.

The revenue resulting from contract recruitment decreased by 7% during the year but increased by 25% regarding permanent fee placements. This resulted in an overall reduction in revenue of 5% but an increase in net fee income of 3% and a gross profit percentage increase from 15.1% to 16.5% overall.

Gary Ashworth, Chairman of InterQuest, commented on the results "The acquisition of Rees Draper Wright in 2016 had a positive material impact on the financial performance in 2017. The legacy businesses continued to be restructured in order to address underperformance and have the right management and personnel to focus on the niche markets that are growing in the face of the challenges brought on by Brexit. Our RPO business, InterQuest Solutions, added a further customer to the practice during the year and continues to be a focus for designing and delivering high value resourcing solutions. Looking forward, the group intends to continue to invest in our high performing brands and in our staff whilst focusing on paying down debt."

Chris Eldridge, CEO of InterQuest, also commented, "Following a year of change, the 2017 results for the group were slightly behind the management team's expectations. The group has invested in new service offerings and developed its international footprint in order to focus on niche, fast growth technologies and higher margin opportunities. During the course of the year the group leadership team has made significant progress in refining its value proposition and simplifying its brand structure in order to meet our client's needs and offer a total talent management solution. The group remains focused on capitalising on the opportunity in assisting our clients wherever they are in the digital maturity lifecycle.”

InterQuest also announced today the conditional acquisition of up to 95% of the issued share capital of Albany Beck Consulting Limited. The consideration for the acquisition will be satisfied through the issue of up to 13,273,400 new ordinary shares in the company  to the relevant shareholders of Albany Beck.

Albany Beck is a staffing and consulting firm based in London but operating in the UK and European financial markets.

Completion of the acquisition is conditional upon Albany Beck and the selling shareholders having complied with the transfer and pre-emption provisions contained in Albany Beck's articles of association and following such compliance being able to transfer not less than 50.01% of the ordinary shares in Albany Beck. James Constable, the Managing Director of Albany Beck, will join the Operational Board of InterQuest with effect from completion. Albany Beck will continue to trade under its name.

InterQuest Group is organised into the following six divisions: Niche, ECOM Recruitment Limited, Enterprise, Public Sector, RDW (Rees Draper Wright), and Other which includes central costs and the centralised sales function.

In trading today InterQuest Group traded at £19.00, down 13.64% on the day. Based on its current share price the company has a market value of £7.34 million.