Staffline Recruitment Group (LON:STAF), the AIM listed recruitment and outsourced HR services group, said this morning that it was on course to beat earnings expectations in its first-half and full-year figures. The company said its performance had been boosted by a number of new business wins and the impact of recent acquisitions together with increased demand from existing clients.

Staffline pointed out that while the benefit of recent acquisitions and business wins were expected to continue in the future, the strong demand from existing clients has, in part, been due to the current uncertain economic climate leading to the use of more temporary labour. It noted that while the increase in demand with existing customers had continued into June, it should not be considered to represent a consistent upward trend because trading conditions remained highly competitive and margins were still under pressure.

Andy Hogarth, Staffline’s chairman and chief executive, said: “We have had a strong start to trading this year and we are benefitting from recent acquisitions and a number of new business wins. Our strong trading performance provides us with the confidence to continue to actively seek acquisition opportunities to invest further in our expansion.”

In the year to December 2009 Staffline posted revenues down 4.8% to £115.0m and pre-tax profits broadly flat at £3.5m. In May, the company acquired the trade and assets of DKM Labour Solutions, a Nottingham-based recruitment group, from the joint administrators in a pre pack deal. That followed a move last December to snap up Peter Rowley Ltd, a training provider and earlier the acquisition of The Workplace, a Yorkshire based recruitment company. Staffline’s acquisition strategy is to make selective deals to broaden its revenue streams and strengthen its position as a provider of value added business services in the human resource arena.

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