The price of shares in Aim-listed recruitment consultancy, Hat Pin, rose yesterday by 2p to 61.5p after the company announced that it expects its results for the first half of 2004 to be much stronger than in the same period last year.

Hat Pin, which specialises in staffing for the advertising, marketing and communications industries, said that its US and Hong Kong offices have performed particularly well.

The company announced in May that it was splitting the roles of chairman and chief executive. Gay Haines remains executive chairman and Angela Campbell-Noe, formerly of Deutsche Bank, was appointed as chief executive.