Technical recruiter Spring Group has announced a reduction of net fee income (NFI) in an interim management statement for the first quarter of 2009.

Contract business, accounting for roughly 80% of Spring’s NFI, experienced a 3% reduction, while permanent divisions accounting for around 20% of NFI, experienced a 42% decline, resulting in a 12% total reduction in NFI year-on-year.

Peter Searle, chief executive at Spring, says: “With our RPO and contract offerings and limited exposure to permanent we are well placed to weather the current economic challenges.  We continue to maintain strong cash balances as reported at year end and with our continuing investment in infrastructure, systems and geographies we believe we are in a strong position to take marketshare in a recovery.”

Spring will announce its results for the six month January – June period in August.