UPDATE 1-Spring Group sees H1 breakeven at EBITDA level

* Says H1 net fee income falls 23 pct

* Hit by much weaker market for permanent staffing

* Permanent staffing business falls 49 pct (Adds details)

July 10 (Reuters) - British recruitment company Spring Group Plc SPGR.L said on Friday its first-half net fee income fell 23 percent, hit by a much weaker market for permanent staffing, but expected a breakeven performance at the EBITDA level.

The company said its permanent staffing business saw a 49 percent fall while its contract business, which accounts for about 85 percent of its net fee income, saw a 16 percent fall.

"Whilst the first half has been tough for the recruitment sector, our RPO (Recruitment Process Outsourcing) and contract offerings have provided us with some resilience in these difficult markets," Chief Executive Peter Searle said in a statement.

The company said it had net cash of 48 million pounds ($78.2 million) at the end of the first-half ended June 30, compared with 26.1 million pounds a year earlier.

Spring Group shares closed at 39.25 pence on Thursday. ($1=.6135 Pound) (Reporting by Balachander Surianarayanan in Bangalore; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier)