Companies: CPS   

CPL Resources, the profitable Irish staffing business that made Û1.3m in the year to June, unveiled some creditable interim numbers despite the tough recruitment market, a struggling Irish economy and the battered global information technology sector. In the half to 31 December, pre-tax profits were a rather flat Û696,000 (Û673,000) on turnover of Û23.4m (Û12m). Net fee income rose 16% to Û5.1m and earnings per share was unchanged at 1.5 cents. Net assets at period-end were Û12.7m (Û12.3m), cash resources were a healthy Û13m (Û11.5m) and the company intends to pay a half time dividend of 0.3p. Chairman John Hennessy explained that two acquisitions made in the past six months, Techskills Resources and Multiflex, have helped diversify the business and reduce its exposure to the permanent placing of IT staff. Hennessy says 'CPL' is now spread across a variety of industries and temporary staffing is now a bigger slice of the business. 'The remainder of the fiscal year promises a continuation of the challenging environment of the recent past' warns Hennessy. This gloomy comment twinned with recent job cuts in the technology sector suggest employment demand will remain weak in the local market for now in Ireland, but we still suggest you hold your shares for recovery. Hold.