(Alliance News) - FDM Group Holdings PLC on Monday said it expects full-year results to be in line with expectations, despite tough market conditions hurting clients' confidence, but gave a somewhat pessimistic outlook for next year.

Shares in FDM were down 16% at 393.25 pence in London on Monday morning.

The IT-focused professional services provider said that since late July, clients have continued delaying project commencement and consultant placement decisions due to macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty.

London-based FDM said that by the end of October, it assigned 4,136 consultants to clients, down from 5,014 consultants at the same time last year.

However, "levels of client engagement continue to give us encouragement and there are some signs that confidence is slowly beginning to return," FDM added.

FDM also said its balance sheet remained robust, with no debt and GBP35.3 million in cash at October 31, up from GBP34.4 million at the same time one year prior.

For 2023, FDM expects its financial results to be "broadly in line with its expectations". It said this is thanks to a scalable and flexible business model allowing it to adjust recruitment, training and staffing levels in response to market conditions.

However, FDM cautioned that its 2024 performance will be affected by a lower-than-expected number of consultants assigned to customers at the beginning of next year.

By Emma Curzon, Alliance News reporter

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