Recruitment company PageGroup (LON:PAGE) raised its 2018 guidance on Wednesday, after reporting a record quarterly gross profit.

In a trading update, the group said full-year operating profit was likely to be slightly ahead of market consensus after a 12.5 percent rise in earnings in the first half. Gross profit for the six months through June rose to £396 million, growing by 14.2 percent on a constant currency basis.

This came despite UK figures being impacted by Brexit uncertainty, sending profits down 4.5 percent. This fall was largely offset by growth of 11.3 percent, 20.2 percent and 14.1 percent in Asia Pacific, Europe and the Americas.

“We are pleased with the group’s strong performance in the first half,” chief executive Steve Ingham said.

“However, there remain challenges in a number of our markets, including Brexit in the UK, trading in Catalonia and forthcoming elections in Latin America.

“We will continue to focus on driving profitable growth as we progress towards our vision of 10,000 headcount, £1bn of gross profit and £200m – £250m of operating profit, while being able to respond quickly to any changes in market conditions.

“In 2018 we now expect operating profit to be slightly ahead of the consensus of current market forecasts.”

Shares in PageGroup (LON:PAGE) are currently trading down 0.76 percent at 587.00 (0947GMT).