International recruitment firm, SThree (STHR: LSE) published a trading update for the third quarter ended 31 August 2019 with group gross profit up 4% year-on-year in constant currency (CC).

On a like-for-like basis after adjusting for working days, group net fees increased by 6%.

During the period, the group was impacted by one less working day and Continental Europe had one more public holiday. The adjusted growth normalises for this impact on the Contract business.

SThree reported group gross profit was as follows:

Gross profit broken down by region was as follows:

Gross profit broken down by sector was as follows:

The group said its performance was underpinned by specialist focus on STEM disciplines, contract and international market exposure.

Within Continental Europe, DACH (Germany, Austria and Switzerland) continued to be the standout performer with net fees in the quarter up 8%, year-on-year.

“This demonstrates the benefits of our focus on the growing and resilient STEM market,” the group stated.

Asia Pacific & Middle East was driven by a strong performance in Japan.

UK & Ireland net fees were down 7%, against a more challenging macro-economic backdrop. Technology, Life Sciences, Energy and Engineering sectors delivered growth in the quarter.

Contract net fees were up 7% with the USA continuing its strong performance with growth of 16%. Continental Europe delivered growth of 9% with DACH up 12%. Continental Europe and USA combined now represent 80% of Contract net fees (Q3 2018: 79%) in line with the company’s strategy to focus on the world's biggest STEM contract recruitment markets.

Permanent net fees were down 5% in Q3. Continental Europe net fees were down 4% in the quarter against strong prior year comparatives. DACH, the largest Perm region was flat, year-on-year. At the same time, USA net fees declined 20%, reflecting previously reported leadership and strategic changes made in 2018. The Japan Permanent business continues to grow rapidly, up 84%, year-on-year.

Mark Dorman, Chief Executive, commented, "The group's unique and specialised business model has continued to deliver year-on-year growth in the third quarter, driven by a strong performance across all of the group's international markets which constitute the majority of the group.”

"We remain excited about the scale of the market opportunity in front of us,” Dorman said. “We continue to see strong demand across our key regions for STEM roles and remain committed to our vision of being the number one STEM talent provider in the best STEM markets.”

Looking ahead, Dorman said, "Our robust financial position, specialised STEM and Contract focus with international reach provides the group with a well-established and resilient platform as we enter the final quarter of the year. Whilst we remain cognisant of significant macro market uncertainties, we remain confident that we have the right niche focus, vision and teams to deliver continued growth, and our expectations for the full year remain unchanged."

As of last trade, SThree traded at £300.10, up 2.25% on the day and 22.49% above the 52 week low of £245.00 set on 28 December 2018. Based on its current share price the company has a market value of £385.94 million.