REG - Empresaria Group PLC - Results for the year ended 31 December 2024
27/03/2025 07:15
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RNS Number : 3966C Empresaria Group PLC 27 March 2025
27 March 2025
Empresaria Group plc
("Empresaria" or the "Group")
Results for the year ended 31 December 2024
Empresaria, the global specialist staffing group, reports its results for the
year ended 31 December 2024.
Financial highlights
% change CC LFL(2)
2024 2023 % change
Revenue £246.2m £250.3m -2% +5%
Net fee income £50.4m £57.5m -12% -6%
Adjusted operating profit(1) £3.8m £5.1m -25% -21%
Operating (loss)/profit £(3.6)m £1.7m -312%
Adjusted profit before tax(1) £2.2m £3.5m -37%
(Loss)/profit before tax £(5.2)m £0.1m n/a
Adjusted, diluted (loss)/earnings per share(1) (1.0)p 0.6p -267%
Diluted (loss)/earnings per share (21.2)p (5.9)p -259%
(1) Adjusted to exclude amortisation of intangible assets identified in business
combinations, impairment of goodwill and other intangible assets, exceptional
items, loss on sale of subsidiaries, fair value charges on acquisition of
noncontrolling shares and, in the case of earnings, any related or exceptional
tax.
(2) CC LFL - Constant currency and excluding exited operations. Calculated by
translating the 2023 results at the 2024 exchange rates and excluding the
results of operations exited in 2023 and 2024 from both years.
· Net fee income down 6% CC LFL (reported figure down 12% to £50.4m)
o Reductions in net fee income across all regions bar Americas which delivered
growth of 5% CC LFL
o Temporary and contract net fee income growth of 2% (CC LFL)
o Permanent placement continues to be challenging with net fee income reducing
by 21% (CC LFL)
o Offshore Services net fee income reduced by 6% (CC LFL)
· Adjusted operating profit down 25% to £3.8m - reduction in net fee income
partially offset by cost reductions
· Adjusted profit before tax down 37% to £2.2m - net interest unchanged from
prior year
· Adjusted, diluted earnings per share reduced to a loss of 1.0p reflecting
allocation of profits to non-controlling interests
· Adjusted net debt increased to £15.3m (31 December 2023: £10.8m) with
headroom (excluding invoice financing) of £4.1m.
· No final dividend proposed for 2024 reflecting current trading environment and
financial position
Accelerated strategy
· Our accelerated strategy announced in February 2025 will drive scale in our
focus areas, improve the Group's financial position and enhance value for our
shareholders
· The streamlined Group will be focussed on:
o Core operations in the UK (IT and Professional)
o Core operations in the US (IT, Professional and Healthcare)
o Offshore Services based in India
· Exit of non-core operations expected to generate significant value,
eliminating net debt and enabling a significant reduction in central costs
Chief Executive Officer, Rhona Driggs, commented:
"Despite ongoing market challenge in 2024, we have responded positively and
are pleased to have delivered relatively resilient year-on-year performance.
While market conditions are expected to remain challenging in 2025, we are
focussed on delivering improved performance in the current environment.
"As we announced in February 2025, we are taking decisive steps to accelerate
our strategy and position the business for long-term success. Concentrating on
our core sectors in the UK and the US and Offshore services will streamline
our operations, reduce complexity and strengthen our financial position as we
sell our non-core assets."
Investor presentation
Management will deliver an online results presentation open to all existing
and potential investors via the Investor Meet Company platform on Thursday
27 March 2025 at 11:00am UK time.
Investors can sign up for free
via: https://www.investormeetcompany.com/empresaria-group-plc/register-investor
(https://www.investormeetcompany.com/empresaria-group-plc/register-investor) .
The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to
constitute inside information as stipulated under the UK version of the EU
Market Abuse Regulation (2014/596) which is part of UK law by virtue of the
European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, as amended and supplemented from time to
time.
Enquiries:
Empresaria Group plc via Alma Strategic Communications
Rhona Driggs, Chief Executive Officer
Tim Anderson, Chief Financial Officer
Singer Capital Markets (Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker) 020 7496 3000
Shaun Dobson / Alex Bond
Cavendish Capital Markets Limited (Joint Broker) 020 7220 0500
Katy Birkin (Corporate Finance)
Michael Johnson / Jasper Berry (Sales)
Alma Strategic Communications (Financial PR) 020 3405 0205
Sam Modlin / Rebecca Sanders-Hewett / Will Merison
empresaria@almastrategic.com
Notes for editors:
· Empresaria Group plc is an international specialist staffing group driven by
our purpose to positively impact the lives of people, while delivering
exceptional talent to our clients.
· At present we offer temporary and contract recruitment, permanent recruitment
and offshore services across six sectors (Professional, IT, Healthcare,
Property, Construction & Engineering, Commercial and Offshore Services)
and four regions (UK & Europe, APAC, Americas and Offshore Services)
· Our accelerated strategy will continue to offer the same range of services,
but focusses the Group around our UK (IT, Professional), US (IT, Professional
and Healthcare) and Offshore Services operations.
· Empresaria is listed on AIM under ticker EMR. For more information visit
empresaria.com.
Chair's statement
2024 performance
2024 was another challenging year for the Group with our performance
continuing to be affected by the adverse trading conditions which have
impacted the industry for the past two years. Despite this there were some
positive performances with growth of 2% (CC LFL) in temporary and contract net
fee income and a return to profit for our Americas region.
People
I want to acknowledge and thank all of our teams, including those in
operations that we sold or closed, for their hard work and dedication during
what has been a challenging year. Their perseverance and determination stood
out, and it is our people that will enable us to succeed in our accelerated
strategy and deliver value to shareholders.
Dividend
The Board has reviewed the dividend in line with 2024 results, the current
trading environment and the financial position of the Company and Group. As a
result, the Board is proposing not to pay a final dividend in respect of the
year ended 31 December 2024 (31 December 2023: 1.0p per share).
Outlook
The challenging economic environment we have seen across the industry over the
last two years has continued into 2025 and the trading outlook remains
uncertain. We remain focussed on delivering improved operational performance
in this environment while executing on our accelerated strategy which we
believe will drive improved value for our shareholders.
Penny Freer
Chair
26 March 2025
Chief Executive's review
2024 performance and progress
The industry faced another challenging year in 2024 with adverse market
conditions that have persisted since late 2022. Permanent recruitment remains
our most impacted area as clients continued with a cautious hiring approach
amid ongoing uncertainty.
However, I am pleased that we delivered relatively resilient results against
this backdrop. Our net fee income was down 6% (CC LFL) including growth of 2%
from temporary and contract. Permanent placement net fee income was down
significantly (reduced 21% CC LFL) while Offshore Services saw its first
decline in net fee income since 2020 (down 6% CC LFL).
We are beginning to see the benefits from aligning our management structures
by country with increased efficiency and operational synergies. Additionally,
there has been a notable shift from transactional to relationship-based sales,
with a strong emphasis on expanding our presence among mid-market and global
clients.
As outlined in last year's annual report, our focus on core sectors and
markets has resulted in the exit from several smaller, generally loss-making
operations in markets or subsectors where we had no plans for further
investment. As a result, during 2024 we sold our loss-making Healthcare
operation in Finland, our UK Property business, and our Commercial operation
in Japan, and closed our operations in China and Australia which had both made
significant losses in recent years.
Accelerating our strategy
As we announced in February 2025, we are taking steps to accelerate our
strategy. We remain committed to our three key pillars for growth: focus on
our core sectors of IT, Professional and Healthcare, diversifying our service
offering to clients, and delivering continued growth in Offshore Services.
These will continue to underpin our strategy as we move forward.
Our first pillar will now be focussed on our core operations in the UK and the
US. We plan to exit our non-core operations over the next two years, creating
a streamlined Group based around:
· Core operations in the UK (IT and Professional);
· Core operations in the US (IT, Professional and Healthcare); and
· Offshore Services based in India.
The UK and the US are two of the world's largest staffing markets and provide
significant opportunities for growth, cross-selling, and operational
synergies. We have a strong presence and proven track record in these mature
markets and we believe that this strategic shift will enable us to scale our
businesses more efficiently and effectively.
Our focus on the UK and the US will enable us to invest in growth more
efficiently and accelerate the delivery of impactful projects and initiatives.
This includes enhancing our technology platform, strengthening our training
programs, and improving our marketing efforts.
We plan to move to a single brand across our UK and US operations which will
enable us to more effectively drive our market positioning while retaining the
benefits of specialist teams. We believe this will be game changing for our
operations, creating a single face to our clients, removing barriers to
selling multiple services, and helping us deliver a more coherent message. We
are finalising our plans for this and expect to launch later in 2025.
Our other two pillars are also key to delivering future success.
While current market conditions have presented challenges, we see promising
opportunities to diversify our service offering to clients as the market
recovers. With a strategic focus on the UK and the US, we aim to capitalise on
recovery in the US contract staffing market in our Professional and IT
businesses. Additionally, we see potential for expansion in both the UK and
the US markets in recruitment process outsourcing.
We remain extremely confident in our Offshore Services operation and in its
value to the Group. Although market conditions have led to a dip in results in
2024, historically, market recoveries have been a catalyst for rapid growth,
as clients often need to quickly scale their delivery capabilities. We are
focussed on ensuring we are well-positioned to respond when the market
rebounds and have continued to invest in our sales team. We also see good
opportunities to expand our range of services to our existing client base and
to take our back office services, such as accounting and finance, to clients
operating in sectors outside recruitment.
Outlook
This is one of the longest downturns in the market I've encountered in my
staffing career. While the immediate outlook remains challenging, we are
focussed on driving improved performance in this environment. We are confident
that the actions we have already taken, and our more targeted strategy, will
enable us to drive faster growth in our chosen sectors and markets, while
strengthening our financial position and enhancing shareholder value.
Rhona Driggs
Chief Executive Officer
26 March 2025
Operating review
UK & Europe
£m 2024 2023
Revenue 112.7 116.8
Net fee income 22.7 24.9
Adjusted operating profit 2.7 3.0
% of Group net fee income 44% 43%
Average number of staff 225 247
In UK & Europe, revenue reduced by 4% (increased by 1% CC LFL) and net fee
income reduced by 9% (6% CC LFL). Adjusted operating profit was down by 10%
(10% CC LFL) and reflected significant reductions in regional overheads
compared to the prior year.
In the UK, net fee income reduced by 9% year-on-year. This was primarily
driven by a reduction in permanent hiring, which was down 16%, with temporary
and contract net fee income more resilient and down 2%. In both our core
sectors of IT and Professional we saw significant reductions in net fee income
with falls in demand across our client base. Towards the end of 2023 we
brought our core operations in the UK under a single leader and embedded a
single management structure in 2024. We expect this to deliver significant
benefits including greater efficiency and, when combined with our plans to
move to a single brand, improve our success in gaining market share with
existing clients. Our private household services and corporate hospitality
operation had a strong year with a 5% improvement in net fee income
translating into more significant growth in profits with benefits seen from a
more efficient cost base. During 2024, we sold our small operation that
focussed on the new home sector.
In Germany, our Commercial operations delivered 9% growth in revenue, with a
1% increase in net fee income and a 12% increase in adjusted operating profit,
all on a constant currency basis. We have seen good success in growing volume
and revenue in our logistics operation in a sector and market where margins
are challenged. The alignment of our operations under a single leader has
driven cost efficiencies which have had a positive impact on adjusted
operating profit. As highlighted in our interim statement, a significant bad
debt expense was incurred in Germany in 2024 and this has been treated as an
exceptional item as discussed in more detail in the Finance review.
Our Commercial operation in Austria operates primarily with clients in the
automotive industry which continued to face significant challenges throughout
2024. As a result, we saw a significant decline in net fee income in the year
which resulted in a small loss.
During 2024, we sold our loss-making Healthcare operation in Finland.
APAC
£m 2024 2023
Revenue 45.5 51.9
Net fee income 10.1 13.6
Adjusted operating loss (0.7) (0.8)
% of Group net fee income 20% 23%
Average number of staff 231 304
In APAC, our revenue reduced by 12% (4% CC LFL) and net fee income reduced by
26% (13% CC LFL). Overall, the region delivered a slightly reduced loss of
£0.7m.
Although this region was affected in 2023 by the weakening of the wider
recruitment market, particularly in IT, the impact had not been as great as in
other regions. In 2024, we saw this impact come through fully, resulting in a
more significant reduction in net fee income than we have seen elsewhere.
Improved cost controls, including from the reduction of regional overheads,
and improvements in operations that were loss-making in 2023, more than offset
this impact resulting in a small reduction in the region's losses compared to
prior year.
The largest year-on-year improvement was delivered by our aviation operation,
which has offices in New Zealand, Singapore and Sweden. Net fee income grew by
23% which, alongside further reductions in the cost base, led to a significant
reduction in losses compared to the prior year. Diversification has continued
to be the
driver of improved performance alongside strong growth in permanent
recruitment, however we are now also seeing some recovery in our core pilot
leasing offering.
Our two largest profit contributors in 2024 were Indonesia and Japan. In
Indonesia, net fee income grew by 7% in constant currency although profits
reduced slightly from prior year reflecting increases to the cost base
including the impact of legislation reducing the retirement age. In Japan, our
IT recruitment operation has continued to struggle in the current challenging
market with net fee income falling by 25% in constant currency including a 41%
fall in permanent recruitment. As a result, profits in Japan were
significantly down on prior year.
Our Singapore operation is going through significant change as we brought new
experienced management into the business to drive improved performance.
Although this operation continued to deliver losses in 2024, we are confident
in its recovery and future prospects.
Elsewhere, the Philippines and Thailand both saw reductions in net fee income
but remained profitable against challenging market conditions.
In Malaysia, we saw good progress with net fee income growing by 12% in
constant currency and good progress on profits. While this remains our
smallest operation in the region it is a market with strong drivers for growth
including from increased foreign investment.
During 2024, we closed our loss-making Professional operations in Australia
and China, and sold our small Commercial operation in Japan.
Americas
£m 2024 2023
Revenue 62.2 55.9
Net fee income 6.0 6.1
Adjusted operating profit/(loss) 0.1 (0.9)
% of Group net fee income 11% 10%
Average number of staff 121 131
In the Americas, good progress was made in 2024 with revenue up by 11% (23% CC
LFL), net fee income down by 2% (up by 5% CC LFL) and strong cost control
resulting in the region returning to profit.
In the US, we delivered a much reduced loss, although net fee income continued
to fall, reducing by 4% on 2023 in constant currency.
Our US Healthcare operation, which has underperformed in the last couple of
years, delivered a much improved performance in the second half of 2024 with
strong delivery underpinning a return to profitability and year-on-year growth
in net fee income. While the underlying healthcare market in the US remains
challenging, we are pleased with the improvements in the performance of this
operation and believe it has very strong growth potential.
Our US IT operation continued to face a very challenging market which resulted
in further falls in net fee income in 2024. However, strong control over costs
meant that the losses in this operation were significantly reduced from the
prior year. We are focussed on strengthening our sales capabilities as we move
into 2025 in order to drive a return to growth in net fee income.
Our Professional operation in the US launched in 2023 in a very challenging
market. Despite this we have had some good success in cross-selling
Professional roles to our existing client base and we have invested in our
sales team as we look to grow our presence.
In South America, our Chile operation has continued to deliver good growth
with a 9% increase in net fee income and a 23% increase in profit, both on a
constant currency basis. In our smaller operation in Peru we saw significant
growth in net fee income of 33% in constant currency, with profits also
increasing.
Offshore Services
£m 2024 2023
Revenue 26.9 26.9
Net fee income 12.7 14.0
Adjusted operating profit 5.8 7.5
% of Group net fee income 25% 24%
Average number of staff 2,521 2,565
Having grown net fee income by a compound annual growth rate of 32% from 2017
to 2023, Offshore Services had a more challenging 2024 with revenue unchanged
(up 4% CC LFL), net fee income down by 9% (6% CC LFL) and profits down 23%
(19% CC LFL).
Our operations support the staffing sector, principally in the UK and the US,
and provide every aspect of the end-to-end recruitment process alongside
compliance, finance and accounting, and other services. Clients are
predominantly third-party staffing companies, but this operation also plays an
important role in supporting our businesses across the Group. We operate from
two locations in India and one in the Philippines.
In the UK, demand from our healthcare clients fell at the end of 2023 and the
start of 2024 after significant growth in the previous two years. Although
demand remained fairly stable for much of the rest of 2024 this resulted in a
year-on-year reduction in net fee income. At the end of 2024 we saw renewed
pressure on clients as the NHS continues to look to manage agency spend.
Billable seats closed the year down 6% on the end of 2023.
In the US, we had seen challenging demand throughout 2023, particularly from
IT recruitment clients, and this remained the case during the first half of
2024. The second half of the year saw some improvement and as a result our
billable seat count ended the year 8% higher than at the end of 2023.
Overall revenues remained unchanged, despite the fall in net fee income,
reflecting increases in revenue from low margin payroll services for temporary
and contract staff provided to India based clients of other operations in the
Group.
Operating profit reduced by more than net fee income reflecting inflationary
increases in the cost base and ongoing investments in sales teams and
infrastructure to ensure the operation is well positioned to capitalise as and
when market growth returns.
Core operations
£m 2024 2023
Revenue 59.1 58.2
Net fee income 18.7 21.5
Adjusted operating profit 4.4 6.0
% of Group net fee income 37% 37%
Average number of staff
US and UK 59 87
Offshore Services 2,521 2,565
Our core operations are IT, Professional and Healthcare recruitment businesses
in the UK and the US, and our Offshore Services business that operates from
locations in India and the Philippines. These operations are the focus of our
accelerated strategy and the additional financial information in this section
is provided to enable a fuller understanding of them. Commentary on 2024
performance is provided under the relevant region elsewhere in the Operating
review.
Non-core operations
£m 2024 2023
Revenue 181.5 181.2
Net fee income 30.6 32.9
Adjusted operating profit 4.5 4.9
% of Group net fee income 61% 57%
Average number of staff 478 510
As announced in February 2025, and discussed in more detail in the Chief
Executive's review, the Group plans to exit from its non-core operations over
the next two years. The additional financial information in this section is
provided to enable a fuller understanding of the contribution of these
operations to the Group. The information presented excludes operations exited
during 2023 and 2024, and adjusted operating profit excludes any regional
overheads. Commentary on performance is provided under the relevant region
elsewhere in the Operating review.
Finance review
Overview
The Group's 2024 results reflect ongoing challenging market conditions with
revenue down 2% (up 5% CC LFL), net fee income down 12% (6% CC LFL) and
adjusted operating profit down 25% (21% CC LFL). This reduction in adjusted
operating profit is reflected in a 37% reduction in adjusted profit before tax
to £2.2m, and an adjusted, diluted loss per share of 1.0p.
Net debt has increased to £15.3m at 31 December 2024 (31 December 2023:
£10.8m). This increase was driven by reduced trading results, a comparatively
high tax charge due to profit mix and a significant exceptional bad debt
expense partially offset by the sale of three small operations in the year.
The Group is targeting to eliminate its net debt through improved trading
results and the disposal of non-core operations as part of its accelerated
strategy. Facility headroom at 31 December 2024 was £4.1m (excluding invoice
financing).
Income statement
2024 2023 % change
£m £m % change CC LFL(2)
Revenue 246.2 250.3 -2% +5%
Net fee income 50.4 57.5 -12% -6%
Operating (loss)/profit (3.6) 1.7 -312%
Adjusted operating profit(1) 3.8 5.1 -25% -21%
(Loss)/profit before tax (5.2) 0.1 n/a
Adjusted profit before tax(1) 2.2 3.5 -37%
Diluted loss per share (21.2)p (5.9)p -259%
Adjusted, diluted (loss)/earnings per share(1) (1.0)p 0.6p -267%
(1) Adjusted to exclude amortisation of intangible assets identified in business
combinations, impairment of goodwill and other intangible assets, exceptional
items, loss on sale of subsidiaries, fair value charges on acquisition of
noncontrolling shares and, in the case of earnings, any related or exceptional
tax. See note 6 for a reconciliation between profit before tax and adjusted
profit before tax.
(2) CC LFL - Constant currency and excluding exited operations. Calculated by
translating the 2023 results at the 2024 exchange rates and excluding the
results of operations exited in 2023 and 2024 from both years.
Revenue decreased by 2% (up 5% CC LFL) with net fee income decreasing by 12%
(6% CC LFL). The greater fall in net fee income reflects the revenue mix with
net fee income from permanent placement down 28% (21% CC LFL), offshores
services down 10% (6% CC LFL) and temporary and contract down 4% (up 2% CC
LFL). Although staff productivity reduced slightly, ongoing cost actions
partially offset the reduction in net fee income with adjusted operating
profit down 25% (21% CC LFL) to £3.8m.
A detailed analysis of the results by region is provided in the Operating
review. Central costs increased to £4.1m (2023: £3.7m) with 2023 having
benefited from some credits not repeated in 2024.
Adjusted profit before tax decreased by 37% to £2.2m reflecting the reduction
in adjusted operating profit. Net interest was unchanged with improved cash
management offsetting the impact of higher net debt. The reported loss before
tax of £5.2m (2023: profit of £0.1m) additionally reflects amortisation of
intangible assets identified in business combinations of £1.2m (2023:
£1.2m), impairment of goodwill of £1.1m (2023: £1.5m), exceptional items of
£4.1m (2023: £0.6m), a loss on sale of subsidiaries of £0.6m (2023: £nil)
and a fair value charge on acquisition of non-controlling shares of £0.4m
(2022: £0.1m).
Exceptional items reflect the closure of our operations in Australia (£0.2m)
and China (£0.6m including goodwill impairment of £0.4m) in the year. An
exceptional bad debt expense of £3.2m was recognised in our operations in
Germany when a significant client, weLOG, went into provisional
administration. We continue to remain engaged with the process but currently
do not expect any significant amount of this debt to be recovered. A further
£0.2m was incurred in restructuring our senior management team in Germany,
bringing this under one leader, while a credit of £0.1m is reflected for
unused provisions relating to the closure of our Vietnam operation in late
2023.
The impairment of goodwill was all in our Americas region and reflects weak
results in recent years in our IT operation in the US and Commercial operation
in Peru, with a more pessimistic view on the time frame for these to improve
given the current market environment. Further details are provided in note 8.
The loss on sale of subsidiaries reflects the accounting impact of the sale of
three small operations: our Commercial operation in Japan, our Healthcare
operation in Finland, and our operation working with the new home sector in
the UK. Although an accounting loss was recorded, these sales had a positive
impact on our net debt position of £0.7m. The fair value charge on
acquisition of non-controlling interests primarily related to our acquisition
of the remaining shares in our Philippines operation in the first half of
2024.
The total tax charge for the year is £3.7m (2023: £1.4m). This includes an
exceptional tax charge of £3.7m in respect of UK tax losses that were
previously recognised as a deferred tax asset in the balance sheet but at 31
December 2024 have been derecognised reflecting current forecasts. On an
adjusted basis, the effective rate is 55% (2023: 46%). The effective tax rate
is higher than the underlying tax rates due to a number of factors, including:
· expenses not deductible for tax purposes (£0.2m);
· withholding taxes, dividend taxes, and deferred tax liabilities on unremitted
earnings in respect of our overseas operations (£0.3m); and
· deferred tax assets not recognised for certain tax losses around the Group
(£0.7m).
partially offset by:
· expenses with enhanced deductions for tax purposes (£0.1m); and
· the recognition of prior year losses (£0.1m).
The adjusted, diluted loss per share of 1.0p (2023: earnings per share of
0.6p) reflects the decrease in adjusted profit before tax, partially offset by
a reduction in the amount allocated to non-controlling interests. Reported
diluted earnings per share decreased to a loss of 21.2p reflecting the above
and the impact of impairment charges and exceptional items in the year.
Balance sheet
2024 2023
£m £m
Goodwill and other intangible assets 32.3 36.6
Trade and other receivables 39.7 43.5
Cash and cash equivalents 17.2 17.1
Right-of-use assets 5.9 6.4
Other assets 6.0 9.3
Total assets 101.1 112.9
Trade and other payables (27.8) (31.5)
Borrowings (32.5) (27.9)
Lease liabilities (6.2) (6.9)
Other liabilities (3.2) (3.7)
Total liabilities (69.7) (70.0)
Net assets 31.4 42.9
Goodwill and other intangible assets arise from the investments and
acquisitions the Group has made. At 31 December 2024 the balance was £32.3m
(2023: £36.6m) with the movement in 2024 due to £1.4m of amortisation of
intangible assets (2023: £1.4m), foreign exchange losses of £0.7m (2023:
losses of £1.0m), goodwill impairment charges including on closure of
operations of £1.5m (2023: £1.5m), sale of subsidiaries of £0.9m (2023:
£nil) and additions of £0.2m (2023: £0.4m).
Trade and other receivables include trade receivables of £29.7m (2023:
£31.0m). Average debtor days for the Group in 2024 reduced to 39 (2023: 41),
with debtor days at 31 December 2024 of 40 (2023: 41). The income statement
includes a charge of £3.2m (2023: £0.3m) in respect of impairment losses on
trade receivables which for 2024 all related to the exceptional bad debt
expenses detailed above.
Cash and borrowings are discussed in the financing section below.
Cash flow
The Group measures its free cash flow as a key performance indicator and
defines this as net cash from operating activities per the cash flow statement
after deducting payments made under lease agreements.
2024 2023
£m £m
Net cash inflow from operating activities 1.4 5.5
per cash flow statement
Deduct payments made under lease agreements (5.3) (5.4)
Free cash flow (3.9) 0.1
Taxation 2.1 3.2
Free cash flow (pre-tax) (1.8) 3.3
Free cash flow was an outflow in 2024 compared to a small inflow in 2023, with
the largest drivers being the reduction in adjusted profit, costs to close
loss-making operations, and a significant exceptional bad debt expense. The
Group also presents a pre-tax free cash flow measure as tax payments in an
international business can be volatile.
The reconciliation from free cash flow to the movement in net debt is as
follows:
2024 2023
£m £m
Free cash flow (3.9) 0.1
Sale of subsidiaries 0.7 -
Purchase of shares in existing subsidiaries (0.2) (0.1)
Purchase of property, plant and equipment, and software (0.8) (1.4)
Dividends paid to owners of Empresaria Group plc (0.5) (0.7)
Dividends paid to non-controlling interests (0.8) (0.9)
Purchase of own shares in Employee Benefit Trust - (0.3)
Other items 1.0 (0.2)
Increase in net debt (4.5) (3.2)
Sale of subsidiaries in the year improved net debt by £0.7m. Purchase of
property, plant and equipment, and software of £0.8m principally relates to
our Offshore Services operation. Spend is much reduced from 2023 reflecting
the lower level of average headcount and a reduced need to expand capacity
given the lower net fee income in the year. Dividends paid to our shareholders
were £0.5m (2023: £0.7m) reflecting the reduced dividend paid in the year.
The Group has previously purchased Empresaria shares, transferring these into
the Employee Benefit Trust to satisfy future share option exercises. As there
are currently no outstanding vested share options and the Employee benefit
trust holds 0.8m shares, no purchases were made in 2024. Dividends paid to
non-controlling interests in the year were £0.8m (2023: £0.9m).
Financing
The Group's treasury function is managed centrally and the Group's financial
risk management policies are set out in note 24 of the annual report.
2024 2023
£m £m
Cash and cash equivalents 17.2 17.1
Overdrafts (14.3) (15.2)
Invoice financing (4.1) (3.2)
Bank loans (14.1) (9.5)
Total borrowings (32.5) (27.9)
Adjusted net debt (15.3) (10.8)
Net debt at 31 December 2024 increased to £15.3m (2023: £10.8m) reflecting
the cash flows discussed above.
During 2024, the month-end average net debt position was £12.1m (2023:
£7.9m) with a month end high of £15.3m at 31 December (2023: £10.8m at 31
December) and a month end low of £8.9m at 31 January (2023: £5.6m at 31
January).
Our debt to debtors ratio (net debt as a percentage of trade receivables) has
increased to 52% (2023: 35%) reflecting the increase in net debt.
Total borrowings were £32.5m (2023: £27.9m) with bank overdrafts of £14.3m
(2023: £15.2m), invoice financing of £4.1m (2023: £3.2m) and bank loans of
£14.1m (2023: £9.5m). The Group's borrowings are principally held to fund
working capital requirements and are mainly due within one year. As at 31
December 2024, £14.0m of borrowings are shown as non-current (2023: £9.2m).
The Group maintains a range of facilities to manage its working capital and
financing requirements. At 31 December 2024, the Group had facilities
totalling £39.6m (2023: £50.8m).
2024 2023
£m £m
UK facilities
Overdrafts 8.0 10.0
Revolving credit facility 15.0 15.0
Invoice financing facility 3.8 7.5
Total UK facilities 26.8 32.5
Continental Europe facilities 7.0 12.1
APAC facilities 0.9 1.8
Americas facilities 4.9 4.4
39.6 50.8
Undrawn facilities (excluding invoice financing) 4.1 17.8
A number of reductions have been made to the Group's facilities in 2024. In
the UK, the invoice financing facility was reduced to reflect current trading
levels and requirements and a £2.0m reduction was made to the Group's
overdraft. In Germany, the benefits of moving to cash pooling in 2023 enabled
a significant reduction in our overdraft facility from €13.0m to €8.5m.
Elsewhere, small reductions have been made to facilities that had not been
drawn in recent years. The level of undrawn facilities has therefore reduced
significantly but the Group remains confident that it has sufficient headroom
and it continues to have significant funds in certain overseas entities that
could be accessed, albeit with a withholding tax cost, if needed.
Covenants are tested on a quarterly basis in respect of the Group's £15.0m
revolving credit facility and all covenants were met during the year. The
covenants, and our performance against them at 31 December 2024, are as
follows:
Covenant Target Actual
Net debt: EBITDA <2.5 times 2.2
Interest cover >3.0 times 4.1
The interest cover covenant target was previously set at 4.0 times, but for 31
December 2024 the Group's banker agreed to reduce this to 3.0 times.
Subsequent to the balance sheet date the Group has extended this facility for
a further 6 months to September 2026 and both covenants have been set at 3.0
times for the remainder of the term.
Dividend
During the year, the Group paid a dividend of 1.0p per share in respect of the
year ended 31 December 2023. Given the current trading environment and
financial position the Group is not proposing to pay a dividend in respect of
the year ended 31 December 2024. As a result of the impairment charges booked
in 2024, the Company had negative distributable reserves as at 31 December
2024. We are considering options to resolve his in order to allow the Company
to return to paying a dividend as and when the wider trading and financial
position supports this.
Going concern
The Board has undertaken a recent and thorough review of the Group's budget,
forecasts, strategy and associated risks and sensitivities. Given these, the
Group is expected to be able to continue in operational existence for the
foreseeable future, being a period of at least 12 months from the date of
approval of these accounts. As a result, the going concern basis continues to
be appropriate in preparing the financial statements. Further details on going
concern are found in note 1 of the annual report.
Tim Anderson
Chief Financial Officer
26 March 2025
Consolidated income statement
for the year ended 31 December 2024
2024 2023
Note £m £m
Revenue 2 246.2 250.3
Cost of sales (195.8) (192.8)
Net fee income 2 50.4 57.5
Administrative costs (46.6) (52.4)
Adjusted operating profit 2 3.8 5.1
Exceptional items 3 (4.1) (0.6)
Fair value charge on acquisition of non-controlling shares (0.4) (0.1)
Loss on sale of subsidiaries (0.6) -
Impairment of goodwill 8 (1.1) (1.5)
Amortisation of intangible assets identified in business combinations 9 (1.2) (1.2)
Operating (loss)/profit (3.6) 1.7
Finance income 4 0.8 0.6
Finance costs 4 (2.4) (2.2)
Net finance costs 4 (1.6) (1.6)
(Loss)/profit before tax (5.2) 0.1
Taxation 5 (3.7) (1.4)
Loss for the year (8.9) (1.3)
Attributable to:
Owners of Empresaria Group plc (10.4) (2.9)
Non-controlling interests 1.5 1.6
(8.9) (1.3)
Pence Pence
Loss per share
Basic 7 (21.2) (5.9)
Diluted 7 (21.2) (5.9)
Details of adjusted earnings per share are shown in note 7.
Consolidated statement of comprehensive income
for the year ended 31 December 2024
2024 2023
£m £m
Loss for the year (8.9) (1.3)
Other comprehensive income
Items that may be reclassified subsequently to the income statement:
Exchange differences on translation of foreign operations (1.1) (2.2)
Items that will not be reclassified to the income statement:
Exchange differences on translation of non-controlling interests in foreign (0.3) (0.4)
operations
Other comprehensive loss for the year (1.4) (2.6)
Total comprehensive loss for the year (10.3) (3.9)
Attributable to:
Owners of Empresaria Group plc (11.5) (5.1)
Non-controlling interests 1.2 1.2
(10.3) (3.9)
Consolidated balance sheet
as at 31 December 2024
2024 2023
Note £m £m
Non-current assets
Property, plant and equipment 1.6 2.4
Right-of-use assets 5.9 6.4
Goodwill 8 26.6 29.7
Other intangible assets 9 5.7 6.9
Deferred tax assets 4.0 5.7
43.8 51.1
Current assets
Trade and other receivables 10 39.7 43.5
Current tax assets 0.4 1.2
Cash and cash equivalents 17.2 17.1
57.3 61.8
Total assets 101.1 112.9
Current liabilities
Trade and other payables 11 27.8 31.5
Current tax liabilities 1.0 1.3
Borrowings 12 18.5 18.7
Lease liabilities 5.0 4.3
52.3 55.8
Non-current liabilities
Borrowings 12 14.0 9.2
Lease liabilities 1.2 2.6
Deferred tax liabilities 2.2 2.4
17.4 14.2
Total liabilities 69.7 70.0
Net assets 31.4 42.9
Equity
Share capital 2.5 2.5
Share premium account 22.4 22.4
Merger reserve 0.9 0.9
Equity reserve (10.3) (10.2)
Translation reserve 0.5 1.6
Retained earnings 8.4 19.2
Equity attributable to owners of Empresaria Group plc 24.4 36.4
Non-controlling interests 7.0 6.5
Total equity 31.4 42.9
Consolidated statement of changes in equity
for the year ended 31 December 2024
Equity attributable to owners of Empresaria Group plc
Share capital Share premium account Merger reserve Equity reserve Translation reserve(1) Retained earnings(1) Total Non-controlling interests Total equity
£m £m £m £m £m £m £m £m £m
At 31 December 2022 2.5 22.4 0.9 (10.2) 3.8 23.4 42.8 6.2 49.0
(Loss)/profit for the year - - - - - (2.9) (2.9) 1.6 (1.3)
Exchange differences on translation of foreign operations - - - - (2.2) - (2.2) (0.4) (2.6)
Total comprehensive (loss)/income for the year - - - - (2.2) (2.9) (5.1) 1.2 (3.9)
Dividends paid to owners of Empresaria Group plc (see note 14) - - - - - (0.7) (0.7) - (0.7)
Dividends paid to non-controlling interests - - - - - - - (0.9) (0.9)
Purchase of own shares in Employee Benefit Trust - - - - - (0.3) (0.3) - (0.3)
Share-based payments - - - - - (0.3) (0.3) - (0.3)
At 31 December 2023 2.5 22.4 0.9 (10.2) 1.6 19.2 36.4 6.5 42.9
(Loss)/profit for the year - - - - - (10.4) (10.4) 1.5 (8.9)
Exchange differences on translation of foreign operations - - - - (1.1) - (1.1) (0.3) (1.4)
Total comprehensive (loss)/income for the year - - - - (1.1) (10.4) (11.5) 1.2 (10.3)
Dividends paid to owners of Empresaria Group plc (see note 14) - - - - - (0.5) (0.5) - (0.5)
Dividends paid to non-controlling interests - - - - - - - (0.8) (0.8)
Increase in ownership of existing subsidiary - - - (0.1) - - (0.1) 0.1 -
Share-based payments - - - - - 0.1 0.1 - 0.1
At 31 December 2024 2.5 22.4 0.9 (10.3) 0.5 8.4 24.4 7.0 31.4
Consolidated cash flow statement
for the year ended 31 December 2024
2024 2023
£m £m
Loss for the year (8.9) (1.3)
Adjustments for:
Depreciation of property, plant and equipment, and software amortisation 1.5 1.5
Depreciation of right-of-use assets 5.3 5.4
Fair value charge on acquisition of non-controlling shares 0.4 0.1
Loss on sale of subsidiaries 0.6 -
Impairment of goodwill (including £0.4m on closure of operation (2023: 1.5 1.5
£nil))
Amortisation of intangible assets identified in business combinations 1.2 1.2
Share-based payments 0.1 (0.3)
Net finance costs 1.6 1.6
Taxation 3.7 1.4
7.0 11.1
Decrease in trade and other receivables (0.2) 0.2
Decrease in trade and other payables (0.9) (0.4)
Cash generated from operations 5.9 10.9
Finance costs paid (2.4) (2.2)
Income taxes paid (2.1) (3.2)
Net cash inflow from operating activities 1.4 5.5
Cash flows from investing activities
Purchase of property, plant and equipment, and software (0.8) (1.4)
Cash received on sale of subsidiaries (net of £0.9m cash in the subsidiaries - -
on sale (2023: £nil))
Finance income received 0.8 0.6
Net cash outflow from investing activities - (0.8)
Cash flows from financing activities
Decrease in overdrafts (0.6) (1.7)
Proceeds from bank loans 5.2 1.0
Repayment of bank loans (0.1) (0.4)
Increase/(decrease) in invoice financing 1.4 (0.3)
Payment of obligations under leases (5.3) (5.4)
Purchase of shares in existing subsidiaries (0.2) (0.1)
Purchase of own shares in Employee Benefit Trust - (0.3)
Dividends paid to owners of Empresaria Group plc (0.5) (0.7)
Dividends paid to non-controlling interests (0.8) (0.9)
Net cash outflow from financing activities (0.9) (8.8)
Net increase/(decrease) in cash and cash equivalents 0.5 (4.1)
Foreign exchange movements (0.4) (1.1)
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of the year 17.1 22.3
Cash and cash equivalents at end of the year 17.2 17.1
2024 2023
£m £m
Bank overdrafts at beginning of the year (15.2) (17.1)
Decrease in the year 0.6 1.7
Foreign exchange movements 0.3 0.2
Bank overdrafts at end of the year (14.3) (15.2)
Cash, cash equivalents and bank overdrafts at end of the year 2.9 1.9
1 Basis of preparation and general information
The financial information has been abridged from the audited financial
information for the year ended 31 December 2024.
The financial information set out above does not constitute the Company's
consolidated statutory accounts for the years ended 31 December 2024 or 2023,
but is derived from those accounts. Statutory accounts for 2023 have been
delivered to the Registrar of Companies and those for 2024 will be delivered
following the Company's Annual General Meeting. The Auditors have reported on
those accounts; their reports were unqualified, did not draw attention to any
matters by way of emphasis without qualifying their reports and did not
contain statements under s498(2) or (3) Companies Act 2006 or equivalent
preceding legislation.
Accounting policies have been applied consistently with those set out in the
2023 financial statements, as amended when relevant to reflect the adoption of
new standards, amendments and interpretations which became effective in the
year. During 2024 no new standards, amendments or interpretations had a
significant impact on the financial statements.
While the financial information included in this preliminary announcement has
been prepared in accordance with the recognition and measurement criteria of
UK-adopted international Accounting Standards, this announcement does not
itself contain sufficient financial information to comply with UK-adopted
international Accounting Standards. The Group will be publishing full
financial statements that comply with UK-adopted international Accounting
Standards in April 2025.
2 Segment and revenue analysis
Information reported to the Group's Executive Committee, considered to be the
chief operating decision maker of the Group for the purpose of resource
allocation and assessment of segment performance, is based on the Group's four
regions.
The Group has one principal activity, the provision of staffing and
recruitment services, delivered across a number of service lines, being
permanent placement, temporary and contract placement, and offshore services.
The analysis of the Group's results by region is set out below:
2024 2023
Revenue Net fee income Adjusted operating profit/ (loss) Revenue Net fee income Adjusted operating profit/
(loss)
UK & Europe 112.7 22.7 2.7 116.8 24.9 3.0
APAC 45.5 10.1 (0.7) 51.9 13.6 (0.8)
Americas 62.2 6.0 0.1 55.9 6.1 (0.9)
Offshore Services 26.9 12.7 5.8 26.9 14.0 7.5
Central costs - - (4.1) - - (3.7)
Intragroup eliminations (1.1) (1.1) - (1.2) (1.1) -
246.2 50.4 3.8 250.3 57.5 5.1
3 Exceptional items
Exceptional items are those items that in the Directors' view are required to
be separately disclosed by virtue of their size, nature or incidence. Adjusted
operating profit, adjusted profit before tax and adjusted earnings per share
are considered to be key measures in understanding the Group's financial
performance and exclude exceptional items.
2024 2023
£m £m
Closure of Vietnam operation (0.1) 0.3
Closure of Australian operation 0.2 -
Closure of China operation (including impairment of goodwill of £0.4m) 0.6 -
Exceptional bad debt expense 3.2 -
Restructure of senior management 0.2 0.3
4.1 0.6
4 Finance income and costs
2024 2023
£m £m
Finance income
Bank interest receivable 0.8 0.6
0.8 0.6
Finance costs
Invoice financing (0.2) (0.3)
Bank loans and overdrafts (1.8) (1.6)
Interest on lease liabilities (0.4) (0.3)
(2.4) (2.2)
Net finance costs (1.6) (1.6)
5 Taxation
The tax expense for the year is as follows:
2024 2023
£m £m
Current tax
Current year income tax expense 2.2 2.9
Adjustments in respect of prior years 0.2 -
Total current tax expense 2.4 2.9
Deferred tax
On origination and reversal of temporary differences (2.1) (1.1)
Relating to changes in tax rates - (0.1)
Recognition of previously unrecognised tax losses (0.1) (0.3)
Exceptional write down of deferred tax assets related to losses 3.7 -
Adjustments in respect of prior years (0.2) -
Total deferred tax expense/(credit) 1.3 (1.5)
Total income tax expense in the income statement 3.7 1.4
6 Reconciliation of adjusted profit before tax from (loss)/profit
before tax
2024 2023
£m £m
(Loss)/profit before tax (5.2) 0.1
Exceptional items 4.1 0.6
Fair value charge on acquisition of non-controlling shares 0.4 0.1
Loss on sale of subsidiaries 0.6 -
Impairment of goodwill 1.1 1.5
Amortisation of intangible assets identified in business combinations 1.2 1.2
Adjusted profit before tax 2.2 3.5
7 Earnings per share
Basic earnings per share is assessed by dividing the earnings attributable to
the owners of Empresaria Group plc by the weighted average number of shares in
issue during the year. Diluted earnings per share is calculated as for basic
earnings per share but adjusting the weighted average number of shares for the
diluting impact of shares that could potentially be issued. For 2024 and 2023
these are all related to share options. Reconciliations between basic and
diluted measures are given below.
The Group also presents adjusted earnings per share which it considers to be a
key measure of the Group's performance. A reconciliation of earnings to
adjusted earnings is provided below.
2024 2023
£m £m
Losses attributable to owners of Empresaria Group plc (10.4) (2.9)
Adjustments:
Exceptional items 4.1 0.6
Fair value charge on acquisition of non-controlling shares 0.4 0.1
Loss on sale of subsidiaries 0.6 -
Impairment of goodwill 1.1 1.5
Amortisation of intangible assets identified in business combinations 1.2 1.2
Tax on the above (1.2) (0.2)
Exceptional write down of deferred tax assets related to losses 3.7 -
Adjusted (losses)/earnings (0.5) 0.3
Number of shares Millions Millions
Weighted average number of shares - basic 49.1 49.1
Dilution effect of share options 2.0 0.7
Weighted average number of shares - diluted 51.1 49.8
Losses per share Pence Pence
Basic (21.2) (5.9)
Dilution effect of share options - -
Diluted (21.2) (5.9)
Adjusted (losses)/earnings per share Pence Pence
Basic (1.0) 0.6
Dilution effect of share options - -
Diluted (1.0) 0.6
In 2024 and 2023, all share options were antidilutive for the purpose of
assessing diluted earnings per share in accordance with IAS 33 Earnings Per
Share. As such, diluted earnings per share and basic earnings per share were
equal. As these options are nil-cost options these were reflected as dilutive
in assessing adjusted, diluted earnings per share presented above.
The weighted average number of shares (basic) has been calculated as the
weighted average number of shares in issue during the year plus the number of
share options already vested less the weighted average number of shares held
by the Empresaria Employee Benefit Trust. The Trustees have waived their
rights to dividends on the shares held by the Empresaria Employee Benefit
Trust.
8 Goodwill
2024 2023
£m £m
At 1 January 29.7 31.9
Impairment on closure of operation (0.4) -
Sales of subsidiaries (0.9) -
Impairment charge (1.1) (1.5)
Foreign exchange movements (0.7) (0.7)
At 31 December 26.6 29.7
Goodwill is reviewed and tested for impairment on an annual basis or more
frequently if there is an indication that goodwill might be impaired. Goodwill
has been tested for impairment by comparing the carrying amount of the group
of cash-generating units ('CGUs') the goodwill has been allocated to, with the
recoverable amount of those CGUs. The recoverable amount of each group of CGUs
is considered to be its value in use. The key assumptions in assessing value
in use are as follows:
Operating profit and pre-tax cash flows
The operating profit and pre-tax cash flows are based on the 2025 budgets
approved by the Group's Board and three year plan forecasts produced for each
operation. These forecasts are extrapolated using long-term growth rates based
on IMF GDP growth forecasts for each specific market. GDP growth is a key
driver of our business and is therefore an appropriate assumption in
developing long-term assumptions. These cash flows are discounted to present
value to assess the value in use.
Discount rates
The pre-tax, country-specific rates used to discount the forecast cash flows
range from 12.7% to 17.7% (2023: 13.0% to 18.5%) reflecting current local
market assessments of the time value of money and the risks specific to the
relevant business. These discount rates reflect the estimated industry
weighted average cost of capital in each market and are based on the Group's
weighted average cost of capital adjusted for local factors.
Pre-tax discount rates used by region are as follows:
UK & Europe: 12.7% to 17.4% (2023: 13.0% to 17.9%)
APAC: 14.4% to 17.7% (2023: 14.8% to 18.5%)
Americas: 13.7% to 16.7% (2023: 14.4% to 15.5%)
Offshore Services: 14.1% (2023: 15.1%)
Long-term growth rates
Long-term growth rates ranged from 0.6% to 6.5% and the rates used by region
are as follows:
UK & Europe: 0.8% to 1.4% (2023: 0.9% to 1.6%)
APAC: 0.6% to 5.1% (2023: 0.4% to 5.0%)
Americas: 2.1% to 2.3% (2023: 2.1% to 3.0%)
Offshore Services: 6.5% (2023: 6.3%)
In 2024, impairment charges were booked in respect of two operations in our
Americas region.
Firstly an impairment charge of £0.5m in respect of our IT recruitment
operation in the US. The IT recruitment market in the US has been challenging
for the last few years and the performance of this operation has continued to
be weak and has not improved as had been anticipated. While the Group remains
confident of the long term prospects of this operation, the forecasts and
short term growth rates used for impairment testing have been reduced
resulting in this impairment. The recoverable amount of the goodwill was
assessed as £2.6m and the discount rate applied was 16.7%.
Secondly an impairment charge of £0.6m in respect of our Commercial operation
in Peru. Our operation in Peru has performed weakly in recent years with
challenges in growing revenue and profits in what is a low margin sector with
strong competition. Although some improvements in performance have been seen
in 2024, the rate of improvement is expected to be lower than previously
forecast resulting in this impairment. The recoverable amount of the goodwill
was assessed as £0.8m and the discount rate applied was 14.6%.
In 2023, an impairment charge of £1.5m was recognised in respect of two
businesses in the UK & Europe region. Both businesses had performed more
weakly in recent years and had not recovered to previous performance levels
and as a result impairment charges were booked. Before the impairment charge
was recognised the carrying value of the goodwill was £2.5m and the
recoverable amount was assessed as £1.0m.
As part of the impairment review, reasonably possible changes in the growth
rate and discount rate assumptions have been considered to assess the impact
on the recoverable amount of each business. Were the long-term growth rate to
reduce to nil an impairment charge of £1.4m would be recorded in respect of
two businesses in our Americas region (2023: £0.7m for two businesses in our
Americas region). If the discount rate were to increase by 2% an impairment
charge of £1.4m would be recorded in respect of two businesses in our
Americas region (2023: £0.6m for two businesses in our Americas region).
9 Other intangible assets
Intangible assets identified in business combinations
2024 Customer relationships Trade names and marks Sub total Software Total
£m £m £m £m £m
Cost
At 1 January 14.1 8.9 23.0 2.2 25.2
Additions - - - 0.2 0.2
Sale of subsidiaries - - - (0.1) (0.1)
Foreign exchange movements (1.0) (0.3) (1.3) (0.1) (1.4)
At 31 December 13.1 8.6 21.7 2.2 23.9
Accumulated amortisation
At 1 January 11.8 5.0 16.8 1.5 18.3
Charge for the year 0.6 0.6 1.2 0.2 1.4
Sales of subsidiaries - - - (0.1) (0.1)
Foreign exchange movements (1.0) (0.3) (1.3) (0.1) (1.4)
At 31 December 11.4 5.3 16.7 1.5 18.2
Net book value
At 31 December 2023 2.3 3.9 6.2 0.7 6.9
At 31 December 2024 1.7 3.3 5.0 0.7 5.7
As required under IFRS, the Group reviewed these assets for indications of
impairment as at 31 December 2024. Following this review, no impairment
charges have been reflected.
10 Trade and other receivables
2024 2023
£m £m
Current
Gross trade receivables 30.3 31.8
Less provision for impairment of trade receivables (0.6) (0.8)
Trade receivables 29.7 31.0
Prepayments 1.3 2.0
Accrued income 6.7 7.5
Other receivables 2.0 3.0
39.7 43.5
Trade receivables include £19.5m (2023: £18.1m) on which security has been
given under bank facilities.
11 Trade and other payables
2024 2023
£m £m
Current
Trade payables 2.0 2.0
Other tax and social security 4.8 5.7
Pilot bonds 0.2 0.3
Client deposits 0.4 0.3
Temporary recruitment worker wages 2.8 3.3
Other payables 1.8 1.9
Accruals 15.8 18.0
27.8 31.5
12 Borrowings
2024 2023
£m £m
Current
Bank overdrafts 14.3 15.2
Invoice financing 4.1 3.2
Bank loans 0.1 0.3
18.5 18.7
Non-current
Bank loans 14.0 9.2
14.0 9.2
Borrowings 32.5 27.9
The following are the more significant bank facilities that were in place at
31 December 2024:
Facility limit Outstanding
2024 2023 2024 2023
Currency Maturity Interest rate £m £m £m £m
Bank overdrafts
UK(1) GBP(2) On demand with annual review 2% above applicable currency base rates 8.0 10.0 6.7 8.0
Germany EUR On demand with annual review EURIBOR + 3.6% 7.0 11.3 6.3 5.5
USA USD On demand with annual review US PRIME + 1% 0.4 1.6 0.4 -
Japan JPY On demand with annual review Short term prime rate + 0.125% 0.5 0.5 0.2 -
Invoice financing
UK GBP On demand with annual review UK base rate + 2.68% 3.8 7.5 1.7 2.0
Chile CLP On demand with annual review Weighted average rate 8.5% 4.0 2.4 2.4 1.2
Bank loans
UK - Revolving Credit Facility GBP 2026 SONIA + 2.5% 15.0 15.0 14.0 9.0
1 The UK overdraft is a net overdraft arrangement across a number of entities.
For facility utilisation purposes these amounts are presented net in the table
above, but for accounting purposes cash and overdrawn balances are presented
gross in the balance sheet. The utilisation amount in the table is net of
£0.3m of cash shown within cash and cash equivalents in the balance sheet
(2023: £1.5m).
2 The UK overdraft can be drawn in a number of different currencies with the
overall facility limit expressed in GBP.
The UK revolving credit facility is secured by a charge over all assets given
by the Company and certain of its UK, German, US and New Zealand subsidiaries.
Subsequent to the balance sheet date the Group has agreed a six month
extension of its revolving credit facility to September 2026, along with an
easing of the related covenants. This is discussed in more detail in the
Finance review.
13 Net debt
a) Net debt
2024 2023
£m £m
Cash and cash equivalents 17.2 17.1
Borrowings (32.5) (27.9)
Net debt (15.3) (10.8)
b) Movement in net debt
2024 2023
£m £m
Net debt at 1 January (10.8) (7.3)
Cash flow movements
Net increase/(decrease) in cash and cash equivalents per consolidated cash 0.5 (4.1)
flow statement
Decrease in overdrafts 0.6 1.7
Proceeds from bank loans (5.2) (1.0)
Repayment of bank loans 0.1 0.4
(Increase)/decrease in invoice financing (1.4) 0.3
Non-cash movements
Borrowings in subsidiaries sold in the year 0.7 -
Foreign exchange movement 0.2 (0.8)
Net debt at 31 December (15.3) (10.8)
14 Dividends
2024 2023
£m £m
Amount recognised as distribution to equity holders in the year:
Final dividend for the year ended 31 December 2023 of 1.0p (2022: 1.4p) per 0.5 0.7
share
Proposed final dividend for the year ended 31 December 2024 of nil (2023: - 0.5
1.0p) per share
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