Profits at recruitment specialists Michael Page have surged as a result of the increased burden of compliance, particularly IFRS, in medium-sized companies.

The strong growth in accountancy jobs helped the company's interim results show gross profits up 27.6% to £128.2m and operating profits up by 78.8% to £30.6m.

Turnover rose by 22.4% to £250.4m, with profits from permanent job placements increasing by nearly a third.

Chief executive Terry Benson told The Times: 'This is an outstanding set of results, with substantial rises in gross profit, operating profit and dividends, as well as strong generation of cash. We have seen excellent growth across all regions of our business.'

With the need for accountancts still high, analysts predict Michael Page is set to deliver profits for the full year in excess of £62m.