Australia-based staffing firm PeopleIn reported revenue today for the full year ended 30 June 2023 of AUD 1.18 billion (USD 761.5 million), an increase of 73.9% compared to the same period a year ago.

This included an organic growth contribution of 25.6% to revenue and 8.3% to normalised EBITDA.

PeopleIn said the growth of the business during the year was two-fold. Firstly, the acquisitions which occurred in the second half of last financial year (Perigon Group Pty Ltd and FIP Group Holdings Pty Ltd) have been in the group for a full year in 2023 and have exceeded expectations in performance.

Secondly, it was driven by an increase in organic demand for staffing services in the sectors and locations in which the group operates continuing from the demand the company saw in the prior year.

The group also credited the diversification of its business which was aided by solid market conditions, with record-low unemployment continuing to drive demand.

PeopleIn saw strong performances in the accounting, food processing, childcare, community care and transport infrastructure sectors during the financial year. These were able to offset ongoing challenges associated with candidate supply in the health sector, and the slowdown in investment for start-up technology businesses.

PeopleIn CEO Ross Thompson said, “As outlined in our 2025 strategy, organic growth is a key strategic focus for the business and continues to be driven by diversifying our client base, cross-selling amongst our family of brands, as well as investing in international recruitment across our three verticals. Pleasingly, we’ve gained traction on a number of these initiatives and, as a result, delivered a significant milestone of over AUD 1 billion (USD 642.1 million) in revenue and solid growth in the financial year.”

“PeopleIn’s newest members of the family, Food Industry People Group (FIP) (acquired in 2022) and Perigon, are both benefiting from being part of a larger organisation and opportunities to continue to diversify their client bases. Both delivered strong growth in the year,” Thompson added.

Looking ahead the company said operating conditions continue to be positive, with the strength of the employment market (3.5% unemployment as of the end of June) and continued demand from clients for staff.

Based on its operating results for FY23 and current economic conditions, PeopleIn expects to continue to deliver a solid performance in FY24. However, if markets deteriorate, PeopleIn said it ‘has a commercially focused and experienced leadership team to navigate this decline, seek out revenue opportunities and deliver solid earnings above industry levels.’

“Given our strong cash discipline and diverse sector exposure, the business is well positioned moving into FY24,” Thompson said. “We expect international nursing recruitment to accelerate, driven by improvements in visa processing and qualification accreditation times as well as PeopleIN’s international recruitment campaign, You + AUS which was launched in February 2023.”

“We’re also expecting technology permanent recruitment to improve in FY24, off the back of continued investment in cybersecurity, AI and companies upgrading their own digital infrastructure,” Thompson continued. “The exceptional leaders within each of our PeopleIn businesses continue to drive growth in each vertical.”

PeopleIn Ltd (PPE:ASX) closed at AUD 2.18 (USD 1.40), down 5.22% on the day and 4.31% above its 52-week low of AUD 2.09 (USD 1.34), set on 26 June 2023. The company has a market cap of AUD 233.63 million (USD 149.99 million).