Recovery kicks in at SThree

The recruitment company SThree reported a 21 per cent rise in first-half profits yesterday after seeing a recovery across its markets.

SThree, which finds jobs for IT professionals in the finance, energy and healthcare sectors in Britain, Europe and Asia, posted gross profits of £90m for the six months to 29 May and announced a special dividend of 11p a share.

The company blamed a "lacklustre" banking market for holding back its results in the UK, where gross profits were up 9 per cent to £33m. But a strong performance in Australia – where it has opened a Perth operation for the booming oil and gas and mining industries, helped profits outside Europe rise 43 per cent.