REG - Robert Walters PLC - RESILIENT PERFORMANCE

Robert WaltersAnnouncement

10/10/2023 07:00

For best results when printing this announcement, please click on link below:
http://newsfile.refinitiv.com/getnewsfile/v1/story?guid=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20231010:nRSJ4790Pa&default-theme=true

RNS Number : 4790P  Robert Walters PLC  10 October 2023

 

ROBERT WALTERS PLC

(LSE: RWA)

 

(the 'Company' or the 'Group')

 

Trading update for the third quarter ended 30 September 2023

 

RESILIENT PERFORMANCE

 

Financial and operational highlights

 

 Gross profit (Net fee income)  Q3 2023  Q3 2022   % change  % change (constant currency(*))

 Group                          £93.4m   £112.0m   (17%)     (13%)

 Asia Pacific                   £40.9m   £53.6m    (24%)     (16%)
 Europe                         £29.3m   £30.1m    (3%)      (3%)
 UK                             £15.4m   £17.6m    (13%)     (13%)
 Other International            £7.8m    £10.7m    (27%)     (22%)

* Constant currency is calculated by applying prior period average exchange
rates to local currency results for the current and prior years.

 

Group highlights

§ Group net fee income for the quarter down 13%* (down 17% actual) against a
record prior year comparative.

§ Global macro-economic conditions remained uncertain, with client and
candidate confidence levels unchanged from the second quarter.

§ Contract and interim recruitment continued to outperform permanent and now
represent 33% of the Group's net fee income (2022: 30%).

§ 84% (2022: 84%) of the Group's net fee income generated by our
international businesses.

§ Headcount down 2% quarter-on-quarter to 4,200 (30 June 2023: 4,280) as the
Group continued to closely manage its cost base in line with market
conditions.

§ Strong balance sheet with net cash of £65.0m as at 30 September 2023 (30
June 2023: £69.9m).

§ During the quarter, the Group purchased and cancelled a further 1.7m shares
at an average price of £3.87 for £6.5m. The programme is now complete, and
the total capital returned to shareholders was £10m for the year.

 

Regional highlights

§ Asia Pacific net fee income down 16%* (down 24% actual) to £40.9m (2022:
£53.6m).

o  Resilient performance in Japan, the Group's largest and most profitable
business with net fee income down 8%* year-on-year.

o  Net fee income across Australia and New Zealand, and Mainland China was
down 23%* and 16%* year-on-year respectively, reflecting the ongoing
challenging market conditions.

o  The strongest rates of net fee income growth across the region were
delivered by Thailand (up 14%*) and South Korea (up 4%*), both rapidly
developing recruitment markets with strong long-term growth potential.

o  Our new CRM was successfully rolled out across all markets in the
South-East Asia region, reflecting our long-term investment in Group
infrastructure.

§ Europe net fee income down 3%* (down 3% actual) to £29.3m (2022: £30.1m).

o  Good net fee income growth in Belgium (up 22%*) and Germany (up 4%*). Our
newest business in Italy continues to perform well, with net fee income up
56%* year-on-year albeit from a low base.

o  Net fee income in the region's largest businesses, France, the
Netherlands, and Spain, declined by 10%*, 6%* and 5%* respectively.

§ UK net fee income down 13% to £15.4m (2022: £17.6m).

o  High inflation and interest rates affected confidence in the technology
and financial services sectors. Legal recruitment remained relatively
resilient.

o  Activity levels were strongest across the UK regions.

§ Other International (the Americas, South Africa, and the Middle East) net
fee income down 22%* (down 27% actual) to £7.8m (2022: £10.7m).

o  Challenges remain in the US recruitment market, especially across
technology and financial services. Our new US office, Austin, performed well
in finance and accounting, and sales and marketing.

o  Good growth across Latin America with Mexico and Brazil increasing net fee
income by 78%* and 14%* respectively year-on-year.

o  The Middle East and South Africa grew net fee income by 3%* and 74%*.

 

Toby Fowlston, Chief Executive, commented:

 

"Our third quarter performance was resilient despite the ongoing global
macro-economic uncertainties. Hiring activity levels remained largely stable
quarter-on-quarter with contract and interim recruitment outperforming
permanent recruitment as organisations focused on shorter-term solutions to
meet their hiring needs.

 

"The Group's strategic core remains strong, and we are focused on consultant
productivity, cost discipline and long-term investments in our people and
global infrastructure. The Group is well positioned to swiftly capture
opportunities when there is an upturn in market confidence and our
expectations for the full year remain unchanged."

 

The Group will publish a trading update for the fourth quarter ending 31
December 2023 on 11 January 2024.

 

- Ends -

 

Further information

 

 Robert Walters plc                          +44 20 7379 3333

   Toby Fowlston, Chief Executive Officer

   David Bower, Chief Financial Officer

 Williams Nicolson

   Steffan Williams                          +44 7767 345 563

 

About Robert Walters Group

The Robert Walters Group is a market-leading international specialist
professional recruitment group. With 4,200 staff spanning 31 countries, we
deliver specialist recruitment consultancy, staffing, recruitment process
outsourcing and managed services across the globe. We match highly skilled
professionals to permanent, contract and interim roles across the disciplines
of accountancy & finance, banking, engineering, HR, healthcare,
technology, legal, sales, marketing, secretarial & support, and supply
chain, logistics & procurement. Our client base ranges from the world's
leading blue-chip corporates and financial services organisations through to
SMEs and start-ups. www.robertwaltersgroup.com
(http://www.robertwaltersgroup.com/)

 

Forward looking statements

This announcement contains certain forward-looking statements with respect to
the financial condition, results, and business of Robert Walters plc. 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. Robert Walters' actual future results may
therefore differ materially from the results expressed or implied in these
forward-looking statements. Nothing in this announcement should be construed
as a profit forecast.

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  TSTMLBRTMTAMBIJ