Germany and Nordics boost Harvey Nash

Harvey Nash is set to post a rise of at least 40 per cent in half yearly pre-tax profits after benefiting from strong growth in Germany and the Nordic countries, the recruitment group said yesterday.

Ahead of its interim results in September, the company said it also expected revenues and gross profits for the six months to July to be up by around 20 per cent.

The boost in Germany and the Nordics was accompanied by good progress in the US, particularly in permanent recruitment, and by what the company characterised as "robust" year on year growth in the UK and Ireland.

Reflecting this, Harvey Nash said it planned to increase its interim dividend for shareholders by 10 per cent.

The City welcomed the update, with Numis analyst Steve Woolf calling it "reassuringly confident". "The shares have featured in the cyclical sell-off seen across the staffing sub-sector, but, given the strong trading performance, this appears overdone," he said.