FDM trades 'comfortably in line' in first quarter

IT services provider FDM Group said on Wednesday that it had traded “comfortably” in line with its expectations during the first quarter.

The FTSE 250 company, which was holding its annual general meeting, said it currently had 3,748 ‘Mounties’ placed with clients, up from 3,580 with clients at the end of December, but down from 3,802 year-on-year.

Mounties is a proprietary term used by FDM to refer to its IT consultants.

Board chair David Lister said Mountie utilisation rates, and the numbers of Mounties who were unallocated or had completed their training but were awaiting their first placement, had normalised.

“We continue to ramp up our recruitment and training programmes, which have returned to pre-pandemic levels, to meet strong and growing demand for our Mounties,” Lister said.

The group's balance sheet remained strong, with £50m of cash and no debt as at 31 March, compared to £44m cash and no debt a year earlier.

“The board is confident that the group, having responded resiliently to the recent operational and economic challenges, is well-placed to achieve its expectations for the current year and to deliver long term, sustainable growth.”

At 0802 BST, shares in FDM Group Holdings were up 3.7% at 1,066p.