Harvey Nash lifts dividend as profits grow
GLOBAL specialist recruiter Harvey Nash said yesterday it plans to increase its final dividend by 10 per cent after it posted a slight increase in full-year profits, adding that its full-year results would be ahead of expectations.
Pre-tax profit at the firm, which specialises in technology and IT service roles, is expected to rise to £8.6m for the year to 31 January from £8.5m a year earlier.
Revenues are expected to rise by 10.7 per cent to £590m from £533m over the same period a year earlier, with gross profit of around £80m despite challenging market conditions, the group said.
Harvey Nash put the increase down to new offices in Hong Kong and Sydney, the acquisition of the Talent IT business in Belgium and increased market share from its technology and digital segment.
Full-year results for the group, which said it had increased its debt facilities with the Royal Bank of Scotland from £40m to £52m to fund working capital when recruitment markets recover, will be released this April.
It plans to pay a final dividend of 1.795p per share.