After what can only be described as its own ‘annus horribilis’ last year (see here), AIM-listed UK-focused IT recruitment firm InterQuest (a sort of ‘SThree-lite’) seems to have got off on the right foot in 2013.
Revenues for the six months to 30th June inched up a tad to £56.2m, and a 2% rise in gross profit lifted gross margins by 20bps to 15.1%. That, and a 5% cut in SG&A boosted operating profit by nearly 70% to £1.1m. A £249k profit from the sale of its marginally profitable contractor payrolling services operation helped boost net profit to £986k (H1 2012: £371k).
It looks like InterQuest management is getting its house in much better order. But the fragile nature of the UK recovery – especially in financial services from which sector InterQuest derives a third of its revenues – will mean that eyes cannot be taken off balls any time soon.