Tue, 11 Jun 2013Human resources company Penna Consulting has delivered pre-tax profits of £2.2m, up 11% on the previous year’s £2m, despite a slight fall in revenue.

Group revenues for the year were £66.6m, down from 2012’s £67.6m, with the majority of revenue and operating profit resulting from its HR Consulting business. This includes the Career Transition outplacement consultancy, which represents 49.6% of group net revenue.

Penna’s Recruitment Solutions net revenue grew by £1.2m (9.4%) to £14m from £12.8m in 2012, and this modest growth produced £0.8m turnaround from loss to profit, according to the company statement.

Penna chairman Stephen Rowlinson says: “The shift in recruitment work away from commission-based traditional advertising to fee-based work and consultancy has continued and margins have continued to improve accordingly.

“Our recruitment teams have seen some tentative signs of recovery in the markets we serve but overall the UK economy remains characterised by caution and restraint.

“However, we are ready to respond immediately to recovery and our cost and margin structure will deliver substantial incremental profits from relatively modest increases in revenue.”