National staffing franchisor HireQuest (NASDAQ: HQI)a reported second-quarter revenue fell 3.4% year over year amid lower systemwide sales. Net income rose 1.5%.

The company has sustained profitability as it manages costs and executes strategy, President and CEO Rick Hermanns said in a press release.

“We took steps earlier this year to lower our workers’ compensation expense, and now our focus is on driving enhanced revenues as the market for staffing solutions continues to slowly recover from what has been a challenging economic environment for the entire industry,” Hermanns said.

Revenue from franchise royalties fell 6.2% year over year in the second quarter. The company reported the decrease was primarily related to a decline at MRINetwork, which provides executive, managerial and professional recruitment services. However, that decline was offset by increases from TradeCorp, a brand that provides skilled laborers and tradespeople, and HireQuest Direct, which focuses on daily work/daily pay jobs primarily in construction and light industrial.

• HireQuest Direct second-quarter revenue from franchises edged up 0.4% to $3.9 million.
• Second-quarter revenue from franchise royalties in the company’s segment that includes both DriverQuest and TradeCorp rose to $211,000 from $88,000 in the year-ago quarter.
• Franchise royalty revenue in the company’s Northbound, MRI and SearchPath segment fell to $1.7 million in the second quarter from $8.7 million in the second quarter of last year.

Total systemwide sales fell 6.9% to $146.1 million in the second quarter.

HireQuest - Q2 2024

Share Price

Shares in HireQuest were up 6.16% to $13.10 as of 10:55 a.m. Eastern time today. They were 15.01% above their 52-week low.