REG - Robert Walters PLC - Q1 2026 Trading Update

Robert WaltersAnnouncement

Today 07:00

For best results when printing this announcement, please click on link below:
https://newsfile.refinitiv.com/getnewsfile/v1/story?guid=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20260415:nRSO4778Aa&default-theme=true

RNS Number : 4778A  Robert Walters PLC  15 April 2026

 

 

 

 

15 April 2026

 

Trading update for the first quarter ended 31 March 2026

 

First quarter trading in-line with the Board's expectations.

 

 Q1 2026                                   Specialist recruitment  Recruitment outsourcing  Total

 YoY percentage change* in net fees        (81% of Group NFI)      (19% of Group NFI)
 Asia Pacific (42% of Group NFI)           4%                      2%                       4%
 Europe (29% of Group NFI)                 (16%)                   n/a                      (16%)
 UK (19% of Group NFI)                     1%                      (3%)                     1%
 Rest of World (10% of Group NFI)          (16%)                   83%                      23%
 Total                                     (5%)                    13%                      (2%)
 Perm (65% of Specialist recruitment NFI)  (2%)
 Temp (34% of Specialist recruitment NFI)  (11%)

*Unless stated otherwise, all net fees (used interchangeably with "net fee
income") growth rates are versus 2025 and in constant currencies. Constant
currency is calculated by applying prior period average exchange rates to
local currency results for the current and prior years.

 

Toby Fowlston, Chief Executive, commented:

 

"Trading for the first quarter was in-line with the Board's expectations. It
was encouraging that the momentum we saw in the second half of last year in
certain specialist recruitment markets, such as the UK, Spain and New Zealand,
continued into the early months of 2026. Furthermore, Japan, the Group's
largest market, also returned to growth after a tough last quarter. That said,
market conditions in northern Europe remained challenging overall. Elsewhere
in the Group, we were encouraged to see our recruitment outsourcing business
return to growth for the first time since late 2022.

 

Whilst the hiring market impact of the Middle East conflict appears to remain,
at this point, limited to the region itself, we remain mindful of the
potential downstream macroeconomic impact in other markets should tensions be
protracted, and our guidance for 2026 Group net fees remains unchanged.

 

We remain focused on factors within our control. Specifically, our cost base
has improved further, and fee earner productivity saw a third consecutive
quarter of growth. Our clients' talent challenges continue to be shaped by
long-term structural drivers, and we are confident we have the full suite of
solutions to support them. The Group is increasingly well-positioned to take
advantage of the opportunities ahead."

 

Group summary

 

§  Q1 Group net fees down 2%*, representing sequential improvement versus
2025 (H1 2025 Group net fees: -14%* YoY, H2 2025 Group net fees: -13%* YoY).
Group net fees in March were up 5%* year-on-year.

o  In specialist recruitment, whilst northern European markets remained
generally tough, Japan (+13%*) returned to growth, joining the UK (+1%), Spain
(+13%*) and New Zealand (+12%*) within our 'top 8' markets. 50% of the
specialist recruitment portfolio grew year-on-year in the first quarter - a
broader base than seen in the prior year (H1 2025: 9% in growth, H2 2025: 20%
in growth).

o  In recruitment outsourcing, net fees were up 13%* on the prior year - the
first quarter of growth since Q4 2022. There was a resilient performance with
retained clients, and a good contribution from a perm volume hiring contract
expansion announced in late 2025. Consultancy saw continued momentum in the
quarter, driven by public sector clients.

o  There was continued momentum in the Group's early stage talent advisory
business.

§  Q1 Group net fee income per fee earner up 9%* year-on-year, underpinned
by continued progression in volume productivity in specialist recruitment.

§  Q1 specialist recruitment perm placements per perm fee earner per month
increased by 6% year-on-year to 0.80. Pleasingly, certain markets saw higher
perm placements year-on-year despite lower fee earner headcount.

§  Further progress on the Group cost base, with the underlying Q1 monthly
run rate below £23.5m (Q4 2025 exit rate: below £24m).

§  Period-end total headcount of 2,880 was broadly flat quarter-on-quarter
(31 December 2025: 2,888) and down 10% year-on-year (31 March 2025: 3,202).
Fee earner headcount of 1,722 rose by 3% quarter-on-quarter (down 9%
year-on-year), whilst non-fee earner headcount of 1,158 fell by 4%
quarter-on-quarter (down 12% year-on-year). Whilst continuing to be selective
in replacing natural attrition, management believes overall fee earner levels
are appropriate for the current market conditions.

§  Net cash of £20.1m as at 31 March 2026 (31 December 2025: £26.2m),
in-line with the Board's expectations and reflecting the typical seasonal
profile - which is predominantly driven by fee earner annual bonuses being
paid during the first quarter. As guided at the 2025 full-year results, the
Board anticipates net cash at the end of 2026 to be stable versus the 2025
year-end position.

 

 

Specialist recruitment Q1 2026 regional summary

 

§  Asia-Pacific: net fee income up 4%*. Japan (+13%*) returned to growth for
the first time since Q3 2024, with a better performance seen in perm.
Australia (-7%*) and New Zealand (+12%*) exited the quarter with temp volumes
at the highest level since Q1 2024 and Q2 2024 respectively, albeit perm
performance was softer in Australia (where it is a larger proportion of the
mix). There was growth in Greater China (+2%*), whilst South-East Asia (-7%*)
saw mixed performance at the country level.

§  Europe: net fee income down 16%*. France (-21%*) was sequentially stable
against H2 2025. In the Netherlands (-10%*), there was sequential improvement
(H1 and H2 2025: both -30%* YoY) - with the performance in perm notably
better. The Belgium performance (-36%*) was weaker than expected. In Spain
(+13%*), the improved performance seen in the second half of 2025 continued.

§  UK: net fee income up 1%, against an overall market backdrop which
continues to stabilise.

§  Rest of World: net fee income down 16%* (down 3%* on a like-for-like
basis excluding operations in Brazil, Canada and west coast USA which were
closed in 2025). Performance in the Middle East (-15%*) came against the
backdrop of geopolitical tension - albeit this was slightly improved
sequentially (Middle East Q4 2025: -23%* YoY). The Americas (+11%*) grew, with
a good performance in the USA.

 

Group net fees breakdown

 

 Q1             2026  2025  % change  % change (CC(*))

 Net fees       £m    £m
 Group          65.2  67.3  (3%)      (2%)
 Asia Pacific   27.2  27.4  (1%)      4%
 Europe         19.1  21.9  (13%)     (16%)
 UK             12.6  12.6  1%        1%
 Rest of World  6.3   5.4   18%       23%

*Unless stated otherwise, all net fees (used interchangeably with "net fee
income") growth rates are versus 2025 and in constant currencies. Constant
currency is calculated by applying prior period average exchange rates to
local currency results for the current and prior years.

 

Conference call

 

Toby Fowlston, Chief Executive Officer, and Jonathan Solesbury, Interim Chief
Financial Officer, will host a conference call for analysts and investors at
8:30am (UK) today. The conference call can be accessed using the below
details:

 

Dial in: +44 (0) 33 0551 0200

Password: Robert Walters Q1

 

Next news flow

 

The Company will publish a trading update for the second quarter ending 30
June 2026 on Tuesday 14 July 2026.

 

- Ends -

Enquiries

 

 Investor Relations

 Dami Tanimowo - Head of Investor Relations and Group Strategic Analysis               +44 (0) 7340 660 425

 dami.tanimowo@robertwalters.com (mailto:dami.tanimowo@robertwalters.com)

 Data Counsel (Media enquiries)

 Steffan Williams                               +44 (0) 7767 345 563

 William Barker                                 +44 (0) 7534 068 657

 rw@datacounsel.uk (mailto:rw@datacounsel.uk)

About Robert Walters

 

Established in 1985, Robert Walters is a global talent solutions business
operating in 29 countries across the globe. We support organisations to build
high-performing teams, and help professionals to grow meaningful careers. Our
client base ranges from the world's leading blue-chip corporates through to
SMEs and start-ups.

 

We deliver four core services:

 

·      Specialist professional recruitment - encompassing permanent and
temporary recruitment, executive search and interim management.

·      Recruitment outsourcing - enabling organisations to transfer all,
or part of, their recruitment needs to us either through recruitment process
outsourcing (RPO) or contingent workforce solutions (CWS).

·      Consultancy - helping organisations access skilled talent on a
flexible basis, support for critical projects and more value from service
providers.

·      Talent Advisory - supporting the growth of organisations through
market intelligence, talent development, and future of work consultancy.

 

Our approximately 2,900 employees are passionate about powering people and
organisations to fulfil their unique potential. We take the time to listen to,
and fully connect with, the people and organisations we partner with. Our
ability to truly understand them and create and share their compelling stories
is what sets us apart.

www.robertwalters.com (http://www.robertwalters.com)

 

Forward looking statements

 

This announcement contains certain forward-looking statements.  These
statements are made by the directors in good faith based on the information
available to them at the time of their approval of this announcement and such
statements should be treated with caution due to the inherent uncertainties,
including both economic and business risk factors, underlying any such
forward-looking information.

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact
rns@lseg.com (mailto:rns@lseg.com)
 or visit
www.rns.com (http://www.rns.com/)
.

RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services. For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange use the personal data you provide us, please see our
Privacy Policy (https://www.lseg.com/privacy-and-cookie-policy)
.   END  TSTIIMPTMTJBBIF



            Copyright 2019 Regulatory News Service, all rights reserved