The listed recruitment company Harvey Nash has bought the US IT recruiter Snowdogs after reporting an increase in profits.

Nash, which has been focusing on the more buoyant US and UK job markets, will pay a maximum of £2.67m for Seattle-based Snowdogs.

Sales at Harvey Nash’s UK division fell to £34.3m from £44.2m in the six months to July 31.

But the company produced profits of £564,000 thanks to cost cutting and a marked improvement in the IT recruitment market.

Finance director Albert Ellis said: “We have seen an upturn in the UK and US, particularly towards the back end of the second quarter. Volumes and underlying activities have improved but margins and pricing are still subdued.”