Michael Page up 42% as overseas market offsets weak UK

STRONG demand for financial and legal services staff in the emerging markets pushed first-half profits up 42 per cent at Michael Page, the recruitment heavyweight said yesterday.

About 70 per cent of profits were generated outside of the UK, while job placement within Britain remained flat on the previous year.

The recruiter, which saw interim pre-tax figures climb to 49.6 million, experienced particularly strong growth in Latin America and the Asia-Pacific and intends to expand to more cities overseas during the next year.

Chief executive Steve Ingham hinted that India was likely to be a key focus for the company in the near term while it overcomes challenges in the domestic market.

While the UK showed "growing evidence of gradual recovery" in the first six months, the recruiter warned that the coalition government's austerity measures could affect its domestic business. It is more optimistic about its overseas operations, where competition is also less fierce.

"We have market-leading positions in specialist recruitment in Asia and Latin America and are particularly optimistic about the opportunities available to us in these regions, where we will continue to invest in additional headcount," Ingham said.

"It is the nature of our business that visibility is short and the general level of business confidence and economic activity may be threatened by fiscal consolidation in the UK and Europe, however we remain quick to react to changing market conditions."

Michael Page's UK operation saw profits climb 58.5 per cent to 9.6m as private sector recruitment recovered, but this was dwarfed by the firm's performance in Asia and the Americas.

In Asia, interim operating profits jumped to 9.5m from 2m in 2009, while the Americas clocked 3.8m, compared with a loss of 1m previously.