RECRUITMENT specialist Michael Page International has reported quarter-on-quarter growth for all its regions, other than the UK.

In a fourth quarter trading update the firm, which opened a specialist legal and financial recruiting office in Liverpool's Edmund Street in 2005, said group gross profits of £90.6m were 10.1% better than the previous quarter, although 28.4% down on the same period in 2008.

The European, Middle East and Africa region, which accounts for 46% of group turnover, saw an 18.3% improvement in fourth quarter gross profits.

The UK (31% of group gross profits) suffered a 2.8% decline; Asia Pacific (13%) a 13.4% improvement; and the Americas (10%) a 13.1% increase.

Overall improvements at Michael Page follow a statement this week from rival recruitment group Hays that it was seeing stability in its business once again.

And although Michael Page has cut its workforce by 28% to 3,549 over the calendar year, chief executive Steve Ingham said in the wake of the fourth quarter - when headcount remained broadly static - the group is not planning any further job cuts and some teams are making "selective hiring decisions to increase our market share".

Group gross profits from permanent positions were 13.7% up on the previous quarter, while temporary positions produced a 1.2% increase.

Mr Ingham said: "We have built on the stabilisation we started to experience during the third quarter and in all our main markets, save for the UK, we have delivered sequential gross profit growth in the fourth quarter.

"While we believe the outlook for the UK remains challenging, we anticipate a continuation of the recovery in our other regions, which now account for 70% of our gross profit."

He added: "With the benefit of our lower cost base and our operational gearing, we expect a significantly improved performance in 2010."