Shares in recruiter Staffline popped nearly 10 per cent this morning after it predicted a rise in gross profits for the half year.

Revenue for first half is expected to be £450.7m, up from £430.3 million for the same period last year, up 4.7 per cent.

Gross profit expected to be £39m, up 14 per cent from last year’s figure of £34.2m.

The FTSE-listed recruiter said the improvements came despite a backdrop of “despite challenges in the specialist driving division due to the widely reported acute labour shortages”.

Shares jumped out of bed this morning, up 9.8 per cent at one point, before paring gains to trade up 5.1 per cent at 61p a short time ago.

 Staffline said it had performed better in recruiting staff for food, logistics and e-commerce companies, with additional margin gains arising from new business wins in online food distribution.

Staffline’s cash prosition improved to £20.9m after it raised £44m in new equity from shareholders last month.