PageGroup plc (MPGPY) Q1 2026 Sales/Trading Call Transcript

Operator

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us on today’s PageGroup Q1 trading update. My name is Drew, and I’ll be the operator on the call today. After today’s prepared remarks, we will have a Q&A session. [Operator Instructions] With that, it’s my pleasure to hand over to Kelvin Stagg, Chief Financial Officer, to begin. Please go ahead.

Kelvin Stagg
CFO, Member of Executive Board & Executive Director

Thank you, Drew. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the PageGroup 2026 First Quarter Trading Update. I’m Kelvin Stagg, Chief Financial Officer; and on the call with me is Nick Kirk, Chief Executive Officer. Although I will not read it through, I’d just like to make reference to the legal formalities that are covered in the cautionary statement in the appendix to this presentation and which will also be available on our website following the call.

The group produced another resilient performance despite the heightened geopolitical and macroeconomic uncertainty. Q1 gross profit was GBP 187 million, a decline of 4.9% in constant currencies against 2025. Our fee earner headcount increased by 26 or 0.5%, driven by growth in the Americas and Asia Pacific, partially offset by reductions in EMEA in the U.K. Overall, the group ended the quarter with 4,994 fee earners and a total headcount of 6,801.

Despite the challenging macroeconomic