Airbus cuts won't impact Morson

Morson Group's results for 2006 helped its shares reach their highest level since flotation, and chief execu
Morson Group's results for 2006 helped its shares reach their highest level since flotation, and chief executive Ged Mason told Recruiter that he saw no reason why the company would suffer from the cutbacks at planemaker Airbus.

About 38% of the company's revenue comes from the aerospace market, including Airbus. Last month, Airbus said it was cutting 1,600 UK jobs from its workforce.

Mason told Recruiter: "The cuts will mostly be on the manufacturing and administrative side. Design people (the sort of staff Morson supplies) are fairly scarce."

He said Airbus seemed keen to outsource some work. "We've seen no knee-jerk reaction," he said.

Manchester-based Morson reported pre-tax profit of £6.12m for 2006, up from £748,000 in 2005. Turnover rose 22.9% to £326.8m. The shares are 50% up on a year ago, when the company floated. Morson has undertaken three acquisitions in the past six months. It spent £2m acquiring London-based Bluetec, which specialises in building, construction and telecoms. This year, it bought Westbury White and Nunn, a Hampshire-based recruiter in telecoms, rail and oil & gas. It then acquired Pentagon, an engineering recruiter, also based in Hampshire, for £2.93m.

Mason said the recruitment market was still very fragmented and it is considering further acquisitions, and has the necessary finance. About 99% of Morson's revenue comes from the temporary market. Mason told Recruiter he hoped to grow the permanent side.

Gerry Mason, father of Ged, founded the company in 1969. The Mason family retains a stake of about 44% in the company. Before exceptionals and one-time items, the company's statement says that pre-tax profit is £9.5m for 2006, compared with £7.7m for 2005. Brewin Dolphin, the house broker, forecasts that profit will rise to £10.4m in 2007, on sales of £375m, with sales rising further to £400m in 2008.
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