Barrett Business Services Inc. (NASDAQ: BBSI) reported revenue rose 16.0% year over year in the second quarter. Second-quarter staffing division revenue rose 20.3% to $24.7 million, while professional employer organization net revenue rose 15.5% to $208.5 million.
Gross billings were up 17% to $1.60 billion at the Vancouver, Washington-based provider of staffing and PEO services. Average worksite employees rose 10%.
| (US$ thousands) | Q2 2021 | Q2 2020 | % change |
| PEO service fee revenue | $208,496 | $180,488 | 15.5% |
| Staffing services revenue | $24,707 | $20,543 | 20.3% |
| Total revenue | $233,203 | $201,031 | 16.0% |
| Gross margin | $57,473 | $46,643 | 23.2% |
| Gross margin percentage | 24.6% | 23.2% | |
| Net income | $17,090 | $11,510 | 48.5% |
“The momentum in our business strengthened in the second quarter with positive financial and operational results,” said BBSI President and CEO Gary Kramer. “Our gross billings and gross margin continue to improve, and our overall performance is trending ahead of plan, leading us once again to raise our full-year outlook. I am also very pleased with our progress in de-risking the business through the favorable restructure of our workers’ compensation program. Moving to a new fully-insured model is a milestone for BBSI that speaks to the tremendous progress we have made in our workers’ compensation operations.”
The company now expects gross billings will increase from 6% to 8% for the full year, up from 5% to 7% in the prior outlook. Expected growth in the average number of worksite employees remains 2% to 4%.
“I am also very pleased with our progress in de-risking the business through the favorable restructure of our workers’ compensation program,” Kramer said. “Moving to a new fully-insured model is a milestone for BBSI that speaks to the tremendous progress we have made in our workers’ compensation operations.”
Share price and market cap
Shares in Barrett Business Services were up 5.38% to $75.57 as of 12:35 p.m. Eastern time; they were 5.22% below their 52-week high set on May 10, 2021, according to FT.com. The company had a market cap of $542.51 million.