CPL Resources, the formerly Dublin-listed recruitment company, saw its profits rise almost 5 per cent last year ahead of the sale of its Japanese parent and exit of founder Anne Heraty from the board.
Japanese group Outsourcing acquired CPL in early 2021 for almost €318 million in an all-cash deal that delivered €110 million for Ms Heraty and her family.
Outsourcing was taken private earlier this year in a management buyout deal backed by Boston private equity firm Bain Capital.
The latest annual financial statement for the holding company over CPL, Outsourcing Talent Ireland Limited, show its net profit rose by 4.9 per cent to €23.9 million last year as edged 0.2 per cent higher to €720.1 million.
Ms Heraty, who cofounded CPL in 1989 and became the first female chief executive of an Irish publicly quoted company a decade later when she floated the business, exited the board in July, shortly after the Bain deal was completed. The Co Longford native stepped down as CPL chief executive three years ago and was succeeded by Lorna Conn.
CPL is focused on providing temporary and permanent staff in the areas of technology, accounting and finance, sales, engineering, light industrial, healthcare, pharmaceutical and office administration.
“CPL experienced a significant ‘post Covid-19 bounce’ in 2022, particularly in our permanent revenue, due to pent up demand in its key markets. 2023 saw a subsequent downturn as the labour market ‘right sized’,” the Irish holding company said in the latest financial statement.
However, it said its healthcare staffing unit posted robust growth while small bolt-on acquisitions during the year helped CPL get a foothold in the home care market in the UK.
“The directors are satisfied with the strong performance of the group in the year and are committed to continued growth of revenue and profitability in the coming years,” it said.
“CPL will continue its growth and its market leading position through a range of activities including organic growth, targeted group wide pricing initiatives, operational excellence initiatives and vertical expansion in both new and existing subscale positions in Ireland.”
CPL’s strategy is to drive growth in three key geographic markets, Ireland, UK and Germany, it said.
“This will be achieved through a mix of targeted organic growth and strategically coherent M&A,” it said. M&A stands for mergers and acquisitions.
“Given the scale of CPL in Ireland, growth must come through international expansion and if CPL is to grow substantiality over the next five years, a significant portion of this will need to be acquired,” it added.
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