International recruiter SThree has recorded reduced profits but has seen ‘meaningful signs of improvement’ in an interim management statement for the quarter ended 28 February 2010.

SThree’s results reveal:

• Q1 group gross profit declined by 27% year-on-year to circa £36m (2009: £49.5m).
• UK gross profit fell by 36%, while non-UK gross profit was down 19%.
• The group had 22.4% less active contractors (3,906) on the same quarter last year
• SThree made 19.6% less permanent placements (1,389) but up 2.6% on Q4 2009.
• UK permanent placements fell 25.9% year-on-year, but were up 4.3% quarter-on-quarter.
• Total group headcount at 28 February of 1,675 was up 4.9% on the year-end headcount of 1,597 but down 22.3% year-on-year (2009: 2,155).

Russell Clements, chief executive, says: “Bearing in mind that year-on-year comparatives are distorted by big differences in headcount and quarter-on-quarter comparatives are complicated by seasonal factors, the overall picture is consistent with a market showing some meaningful signs of improvement in the first quarter. That said, trading conditions still have some way to go before they can be regarded as normal.”