Gattaca looks to the future after bumpy start to the year
Gattaca has endured a tough start to the year with declines in revenues and net cash, alongside rising losses.
The specialist staffing solutions business – focused on engineering and technology – reported a one per cent dip in revenues in its half year results.
Revenues fell from £204.8m to £202.2m year-on-year, while net cash tumbled from £22.7m to £4.8m over the same time period.
This was partly due to the firm paying the remaining the final balance of £5.6m for deferred VAT.
Losses before tax rose from £0.3m to £2.5m, with no interim dividend planned until the company reports sustained profitability.
However, it did enjoy a five per cent boost in net fee income, which has jumped from £20.5m to £21.6m.
The figures covered the company’s performance in the six months up to 31 January 2022.
Despite the set backs in its headline results, Gattaca is bullish about its future prospects.
It has now established its operating model with a new global technology platform, and has boosted its sales headcount by 12 per cent.
The FTSE AIM All-Share company now expects underlying profit before tax for its financial year ending in July to be around breakeven.
Looking to 2023 and beyond, it expects to see the benefits of its investment in headcount and the technology platform begin to come through, delivering a return to sustainable long-term growth.
This will be supported by a strong market demand for STEM talent, which Gattaca argues remains scarce and in high demand.
Chairman Patrick Shanley said: “The first half of FY 2022 has been a period of mixed performance for Gattaca. We see encouraging trends and positive signs of growth across a number of our core markets however, our contract business has taken longer to recover than expected which is impacting the group’s performance.”
Commenting on future plans, he added: “To ensure we successfully capture the robust demand for STEM skills across our markets, we plan to significantly increase our external focus, particularly client acquisition and expansion, and leverage our new operating model and technology platform to increase efficiency and performance output.”