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Cpl posts record 23pc jump in revenues

Thursday, September 06 11:40:16

Dublin-listed recruitment group, Cpl Resources, today posted record revenues of E290m for its full year to the end of June last and operating profits that rose 39pc to E10m as vacancies for key jobs across the economy rose substantially.

Earnings per share increased by a third to 25.6 cent and it declared a total dividend per share of 6.5 cent (2011: 5.0 cent), returning E20 million to its shareholders.

"2012 was a year of significant progress for Cpl. Our revenue was the highest in the company's 22 year history and we have again demonstrated resilience in difficult market conditions. Our focus will continue to be on looking for opportunities in those sectors and geographies that are doing well, while continuing to monitor carefully our cost base," said Anne Heraty CEO.

She added that there is a considerable amount of new hiring happening in Ireland in specific sectors, despite the very tough economic environment and the high rate of unemployment, according to Anne Heraty, CEO of CPL, Ireland's largest recruitment company.

Speaking at the publication of her company's annual results Ms. Heraty said, "Despite the high number of people unemployed finding people with the right skills and cultural fit can be challenging for some companies. It's a 'buyer's market' and employers are being very selective, which can make it difficult for the jobseeker."

"Appropriate training programmes for the unemployed is vital but more widespread communication is needed with both employers and the unemployed for initiatives such as JobBridge and Springboard. These are excellent programmes and they meet two goals; they prevent people getting demoralised while they are looking for work and they get them re-skilled for new job opportunities. The increase in youth unemployment is very worrying. Continued investment in developing young people's skills is critical in order to avoid a lost generation of talent and skills shortages further down the line. We need combined "study and work programmes" for unemployed youth in order to get them into the workforce."