CPL hit hard by downturn as fee income drops 22pc
Tuesday December 16 2008
Recruitment group CPL has said it is being hit hard by the global economic downturn and its effects on the labour market.
In a trading statement released yesterday Ireland's only stock exchange listed recruiter said current conditions were having "a marked effect" on its trading and financial performance, as many organisations had responded to the downturn by curtailing or postponing recruitment.
"In Ireland employment statistics have continued to disimprove and many organisations have responded to the downturn by curtailing or postponing recruitment activity," the group said.
"There has been a significant slowdown in business, particularly in the area of recruitment for permanent positions."
The group expects to report profit before tax of approximately €6m for the six months to 31 December 2008, but the outlook for 2009 is "very uncertain" for the period of the rest of its financial year, which runs to 30 June 2009. Its ISEQ share price fell 6.42pc between opening and lunch time yesterday and was down 3.67pc by close of play to €1.05.
CPL's growth in recent years has been one of the Irish success stories of the boom; between 2003 and 2008 the group's net fee income went from €10.6m and €52.5m, while revenues grew from €52.4m to €257.6m in the same five-year period.
However in September's financial report, chairman John Hennessy said fee income on permanent placement had fallen by 22pc in the six-month period to the end of June, as the recruitment market began to feel the effect of decline in the economy.
CPL was founded by Irish business woman Anne Heraty.
- Roisin Burke
