Pagegroup Plc (MPGPF) Q1 2025 Earnings Call

Investor webinar replay

Replay transcript excerpt

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us at short notice. Welcome to the Page Group 2025 First Quarter Trading Update. I'm Kelvin Stagg, Chief Financial Officer, and on the call with me is Nick Kirk, Chief Executive Officer. Although I will not read it through, I'd just like to make reference to the legal formalities that are covered in the cautionary statement in the appendix to this presentation, and which will also be available on our website following the call. The group delivered a Q1 performance in line with expectations. Q1 gross profit was £194.2 million, a decline of 9.2% in constant currencies against Q1 2024. We saw challenging market conditions in the majority of the group's markets, as ongoing macroeconomic uncertainty continued to impact candidate and client confidence. Our Fiona headcount reduced by 74, or 1.4%. with reductions in areas of weaker trading performance. Overall, the group ended the quarter with 5,296 fee earners and a total headcount of 7,228. Despite the tough macroeconomic conditions, gross profit per fee earner and measure of productivity remained at elevated levels, down just 1% on Q1 2024. Our balance sheet remains strong. We'd net cash at the end of March of around 54 million pounds. This compares to $95 million at the end of 2024, having paid out annual bonuses and quarterly profit share in January. I will now give a brief financial review. We reduced our Fiona headcount by 74, or 1.4%, during the quarter, with reductions in areas of weaker trading performance. And on operations, headcount reduced by 59 in Q1, due mainly to the exit of around 45 heads that we had been double-running we transitioned our shared service centre from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur. We continue to review our Fiona headcount, reallocating resources...