PageGroup (LSE:PAGE), the global recruitment consultancy, reported group gross profit of £197.6m for the second quarter, down 0.2% in constant currencies against the same period last year, an improvement on the 4.9% decline recorded in the first quarter.
The board repeated its expectation that 2026 operating profit will be in line with company-compiled consensus of £28m.
Around half the group's markets returned to growth in the quarter, with the Americas and Asia Pacific delivering continued gains and Southern Europe returning to growth, while France, Northern Europe and the UK remained challenging but stable.
Page Executive, the group's senior appointments business, delivered a record quarter with growth of 15%, and gross profit per fee earner rose 5% year-on-year.
Fee earner headcount fell by 80, or 1.6%, to 4,914, with reductions concentrated in France and Northern Europe.
Net debt stood at approximately £7m, unchanged from the first quarter, after the payment of a £10m final dividend for 2025, compared with net cash of around £10m a year earlier.
"Whilst we have seen improvement and signs of a normalisation in trading in a number of our markets, there remains a high degree of uncertainty in the outlook for the rest of the year," said Nicholas Kirk, chief executive.
PageGroup will publish its interim results on 6 August.
