Strong half-year for Armstrong Craven

THE owner of the Manchester headhunter Armstrong Craven has narrowed its losses during the six months to June 30.

Work Group, listed on the AIM market, said pre-tax losses fell from £579,000 in the first half of last year to £140,000. Revenue dipped 7% to £11.3m.

The business said net fee income was up 4% to £6m and after stripping out exceptional costs it made a £200,000 pre-tax profit.

Armstrong Craven enjoyed a “particularly strong six months”, culminating in a record month in June and a strong pipeline of new projects and clients. The office, based in Hale, made a “small profit”.

Chairman Simon Howard said: “We have witnessed positive trends across the company. Most significantly, the talent management division recorded strong growth and profits, while each of the communications’ businesses made significant progress towards profitability.
 
“We remain cautious about overall recruitment demand and do not expect that our markets will provide any significant growth momentum for the remainder of the current year. Despite this, our full year performance is likely to be somewhat better than current expectations.”