STHREE PLC Other brands including Global Enterprise Partners, JP Gray, Madison Black, Newington International and Orgtel are rolled into the above brands.
Revenue Net fees
31 May 31 May 31 May 31 May
2021 2020 2021 2020
restated restated
Recruitment classification GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000
Contract 571,724 558,377 121,913 113,470
Permanent 43,394 37,625 42,354 36,436
615,118 596,002 164,267 149,906
Revenue Net fees
31 May 31 May 31 May 31 May
2021 2020 2021 2020
restated restated
Sectors GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000
Technology 309,766 293,086 76,659 67,611
Life Sciences 126,187 104,321 39,578 32,822
Engineering 124,170 138,469 33,016 33,117
Banking & Finance 45,943 52,896 11,772 13,960
Other 9,052 7,230 3,242 2,396
615,118 596,002 164,267 149,906
Other includes Procurement & Supply Chain and Sales & Marketing. Engineering includes Energy. 3. PROFIT AND LOSS INFORMATION a. Operating profit from continuing operations is stated after charging/(crediting):
31 May 31 May
2021 2020
GBP'000 GBP'000
Staff costs 104,195 102,048
Depreciation 8,099 7,574
Amortisation 1,218 1,435
Loss on disposal of property, plant and equipment 14 11
Impairment of intangible assets - 34
Impairment loss on financial assets 425 1,281
Service lease charges
? Buildings 1,079 1,059
? Cars 104 198
Foreign exchange losses/(gains) 377 (120)
Other operating income (see note 3(b)) (296) (1,095)
b. Profit for the half-year includes the following items that are unusual because of their nature, size, or incidence:
31 May 31 May
2021 2020
GBP'000 GBP'000
1. Net exceptional income 121 416
2. Impact of COVID-19
Government assistance income 175 679
296 1,095
Net exceptional income
The Group recognised a net exceptional income of GBP0.1 million (HY 2020: GBP0.4 million) in relation to a legacy restructuring programme partially funded by a grant receivable from Scottish Enterprise. The Group is entitled to the grant until the end of 2021, subject to the terms of the grant being met.
Impact of COVID-19
The COVID-19 health crisis had implications on certain items of income in the Group Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements, though not treated as exceptional items these items affect the profit before tax for the six months ended 31 May 2021.
Government assistance income
In the six months ended 31 May 2021, the Group took advantage of job retention schemes launched by the national government of France, whereby it was reimbursed for a portion of salaries of furloughed personnel. A benefit of GBP0.2 million (HY 2020: GBP0.7 million from the UK and Singapore national governments) was recognised and presented as a deduction in reporting the related staff expense. 4. income tax expense
Income tax for the half year is accrued based on the Directors' best estimate of the average annual effective tax rate ('ETR') for the financial year. The tax charge for the half year amounted to GBP8.6 million (HY 2020: GBP5.2 million) at an ETR of 31% (HY 2020: 38%) on continuing operations. The tax rate was higher in the prior period mainly due to higher losses in certain jurisdictions not recognised for deferred tax purposes. The Group's ETR primarily varies with the mix of taxable profits by territory, non-deductibility of the accounting charge for LTIP's and other one-off tax items.
A deferred tax liability of GBP0.6 million (2020: deferred tax asset of GBP1.5 million) has been recognised in the financial statements for the six months ended 31 May 2021. This comprises deferred tax assets of GBP4.6 million (2020: GBP5.4 million) and deferred tax liabilities of GBP5.2 million (2020: GBP3.9 million), which arise on accelerated depreciation, share-based payments, provisions and uncertain tax provisions. The movement in the period is primarily as a result of an increase in the Uncertain Tax Provision relating to transfer pricing risks, and the utilisation of tax losses.
At the reporting date, the Group has unused tax losses of GBP30.0 million (2020: GBP34.2 million) available for offset against future profits. No deferred tax asset was recognised against these losses. 5. Dividends
31 May 31 May
2021 2020
Amounts recognised as distributions to equity holders in the period
GBP'000 GBP'000
Interim dividend of nil (2019: 5.1 pence) per share - 6,656
Final dividend of 5.0 pence (2019: nil pence) per share 6,626 -
6,626 6,656 No interim 2020 dividend was paid due to the economic uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 health crisis (2019: 5.1 pence).
The 2020 final dividend of 5.0 pence (2019: nil pence) per share was approved by shareholders at the AGM on 22 April 2021 and has been included as a liability in this Interim Financial Report. The dividend was paid on 4 June 2021 to shareholders on record on 7 May 2021. 6. Discontinued operations
On 1 September 2020, the Group announced its intention to liquidate the Australian subsidiary ('SThree Australia'), the operations of which represented a separate major line of business for SThree. As a result, SThree Australia was treated as discontinued operations for the year ended 30 November 2020 and half year ended 31 May 2021.
A single amount was shown on the face of the Condensed Consolidated Income Statement comprising the post-tax loss from discontinued operations. That is, the income and expenses of SThree Australia were reported separately from the continuing operations of the Group. With SThree Australia being classified as discontinued operations, the APAC segment no longer includes its results in the segmental note. Financial information for SThree Australia operations after intra-group eliminations is presented below.
31 May 31 May
2021 2020
GBP'000 GBP'000
Revenue - 6,637
Cost of sales (21) (5,370)
Administrative expenses (12) (1,854)
Operating loss (33) (587)
Net finance cost - (8)
Loss before and after income tax of discontinued operations (33) (595)
Reclassification of foreign currency translation reserve (243) -
Loss on liquidation of the subsidiary before and after income tax (243) -
Loss from discontinued operations (276) (595)
Exchange differences on retranslation of discontinued operations - (268)
Total comprehensive loss from discontinued operations (276) (863)
Net cash flows (used)/generated by discontinued operations
Operating activities (704) 411
Financing activities - (165)
Net cash (outflow)/inflow (704) 246 7. Earnings per share Basic earnings per share ('EPS') is calculated by dividing the profit for the year attributable to owners of the Company by the weighted average number of ordinary shares outstanding during the year excluding shares held as treasury shares and those held in the Employee Benefit Trust, which for accounting purposes are treated in the same manner as shares held in the treasury reserve.
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