City A.M. - Profits Rise at Hydrogen

6th September 2011 - Profits at international recruitment group Hydrogen rose by 64 per cent in the six months to the end of June, the company said yesterday, as revenues increased by 45 per cent to £80m. Profits before tax were £1.8m and net fee income hit £15.1m. “The profit increase was driven purely by increasing revenues, with no cost cutting,” chief executive Tim Smeaton told City A.M. “During the same period we’ve increased headcount to 350 staff.” Hydrogen saw a particularly strong performance in its engineering division, where net fee income was up 71 per cent to £2.9m. Its contract group also performed well, with net fee income at £8.1m – up 41 per cent from last year. Hydrogen recently opened an office in Hong Kong, and 40 per cent of the group’s fee earning headcount now comes from international markets.