International specialist recruitment firm PageGroup (MPI: LSE) reported gross profit for the first quarter ending 31 March 2017 of £170.3 million, an increase of 9.1% in constant currency (CC) compared with £142.2 million during the same period last year.

"The group delivered record quarterly gross profit in Q1 of £170.3 million, growing 9.1% in constant currency and 19.7% in reported rates. This was an improvement on the 3.8% growth in Q4, reflecting an improvement in underlying trading plus the timing of Easter being in Q2 this year, rather than in Q1 last year,” Steve Ingham, Chief Executive Officer said.

Gross profit broken down by recruitment type was as follows:

Permanent gross profit represents 75% of the group’s total gross profit in Q1 2017 while temporary gross profit was 25% of the total.

By geography, the Americas shows greatest gross profit growth as outlined in the regional breakdown below:

"France, having increased fee earner headcount by 17% year-on-year, delivered an excellent quarter, with growth of 26%,” Ingham said. “Germany continued to grow in double digits. The UK delivered a flat result, its best performance for a year, despite client and candidate confidence levels remaining impacted by Brexit related uncertainty.”

“There was continued growth in China, up 6%. Excluding Singapore, South East Asia, another of the Group's large, high-potential markets, delivered growth of 25%. In the US, where we increased fee earners by 26% year-on-year, we saw a strong improvement, up 16% and Latin America, excluding Brazil, delivered growth of 31%,” Ingham said.

In the EMEA region, which represented 46% of group gross profit, France grew 26%, with growth of 19% in Michael Page and 29% in Page Personnel. Germany was up 11% while Southern Europe again delivered a record quarter, up 11%. Businesses in Benelux was up collectively by 12%. In total, six countries in the region had record quarters. Businesses in the Middle East and Africa, representing 5% of the region, delivered growth of 10%, driven by Africa, which was up 14%, as well as growth of 7% in the Middle East.

The UK, which represented 22% of group gross profit, recorded a flat performance, however it was an improvement on the -6.7% in Q4 2016. This result was driven by increased consultant productivity and the benefit of Easter falling in April this year. Candidate and client confidence levels remain impacted by uncertainty surrounding Brexit. Conditions were similar across Michael Page and Page Personnel, with Michael Page flat for the quarter and Page Personnel down 1%. Group technical disciplines were the best performing, together growing 12%. Private sector business, which represented 88% of the UK, saw flat growth, whereas the public sector, which represented 12% of the UK, declined 2%.

Asia Pacific, which represented 18% of group gross profit, showed growth in Mainland China which was up 11%. In Hong Kong, the group continued to experience tough market conditions and consequently was down 1%, albeit an improvement on Q3 and Q4 2016, which were down 15% and 4%, respectively. South East Asia was down 1%, with challenging trading conditions continuing in Singapore but record performances from Indonesia and Malaysia. In Australasia, growth was 4.7%. Page Personnel was up 8%, and New Zealand was up 28%.

The Americas, the group’s fastest growing region, showed that North America, driven by the US, grew 13%. The company continued to diversify its business in the US, with growth in the quarter of 16%. In Latin America, PageGroup continued to experience contrasting market conditions. Brazil, which in Q1 represented 34% of Latin America, decreased by 3%, an improvement on Q4 2016 (-11%), though with softer comparators. Excluding Brazil, the rest of the region grew 31%, with Mexico, the group’s largest business in Latin America in terms of fee earners, up 30%, and Argentina and Peru, combined up 58%, both delivering record quarters.

Gross Profit by discipline was broken down as follows:

"The group again benefited from positive foreign exchange movements during Q1, which increased reported gross profit by 10.6 percentage points, or £15 million,” Ingham said. “Our focus on investing in our large, high-potential markets, as well as in businesses experiencing strong growth, resulted in headcount growth of 115 (+1.9% on December 2016), up to a new record for the group of 6,214.

"We are pleased with the strong performance across the majority of our regions, but note the timing of Easter benefited the overall quarterly result,” Ingham said. “Furthermore, there remain a number of uncertainties as we continue through 2017, including the impact of Brexit in the UK, elections in Europe and Brazil's ongoing macro-economic challenges. Looking ahead, we will continue to focus on driving profitable growth, while being able to respond quickly to any changes in market conditions."

In trading today, PageGroup set a new 52-week high when it reached £480.70, up 7.10% on the day. Over this period, the share price grew 11.96%. Based on its current share price the company has a market value of £1.45 billion.