U.K. recruitment company Reed Online Ltd has posted its financial results for the year to June 2021, which shows falling revenue but higher operating profits.
The recruitment business, which earns income through online recruitment and training services, job listings, resume access and training courses, has been overtaken over the last year or so by CV-Library into third position in the U.K. market.
Reed Online Ltd recorded a 19% decline in revenue from £50.2 million ($66.3 million U.S.) in 2020 to £40.6 million ($53.6 million U.S.). However, operating profit more than doubled from £2.1 million to £4.6 million and the operating profit margin went up from 4.3% to 11.3%, helped by cutting operating expenses by £12.7 million in the reporting period. Profit after tax doubled from £1.86 million to £3.72 million.
The company said its performance in the period was affected by the Covid-19 pandemic which meant “whilst the initial shock of the pandemic receded, income levels were substantially below the norm prior to the pandemic.” The U.K. was under lockdown through much of November and December 2020 and in January and February 2021, which, the company said, “had the effect of delaying the recovery expected within the U.K. recruitment market.”
The company used the U.K. government’s company furlough staff support scheme during the year, as it did in the previous year, claiming £453,000 in 2021, compared to £519,000 in 2020.
The pandemic meant that support measures, particularly for smaller companies were extended into the reporting period. These included payment holidays, free product usage and contract extensions.
Reed Online Ltd cut costs through contract renegotiations and also by making redundancies to co-workers “whose roles were deemed to be unsustainable in the long-term due to the effect of the pandemic and the anticipated future needs of the business.” Headcount fell from 343 to 274 over the 12 months.
The company balance sheet shows an increase in net assets, up from £27.4 million to £31.1 million at the year-end. Reed Online Ltd is part of the Reed Group, which is wholly owned by Reed Global Ltd.