UK's Robert Walters 2025 losses narrower than expected, net fees fall 14%

Robert Walters

11/03/2026 07:09

Overview

UK talent solutions provider's 2025 net fee income fell 14% amid cautious hiring sentiment

Operating loss and pretax loss for 2025 both beat analyst expectations

Company raised target for annualised structural cost savings to at least £12 mln in 2027

Outlook

Company expects 2026 group net fees to be slightly below 2025

Robert Walters raises annualised structural cost savings target to at least £12m in 2027

Company expects 2026 year-end net cash to be broadly stable versus 2025

Result Drivers

CAUTIOUS HIRING SENTIMENT - Co said continued macro and geopolitical volatility led to cautious client and candidate sentiment, driving a 14% decline in net fee income

COST ACTIONS - More than half of the year-on-year fee income impact was offset through cost actions, including £4.4 mln in redundancy costs and operational streamlining

REGIONAL VARIATION - Co said recovery was increasingly well-entrenched in the UK, Spain and New Zealand, while northern Europe remained more muted

Company press release: ID:nRSK1497Wa

Key Details

Metric
Beat/Miss
Actual
Consensus Estimate
FY Operating Profit
Beat
-GBP 14.90 mln
-GBP 16.16 mln (3 Analysts)
FY Pretax Profit
Beat
-GBP 19.60 mln
-GBP 20.09 mln (3 Analysts)

Analyst Coverage

The current average analyst rating on the shares is "strong buy" and the breakdown of recommendations is 3 "strong buy" or "buy", no "hold" and no "sell" or "strong sell"

The average consensus recommendation for the employment services peer group is "buy."

Wall Street's median 12-month price target for Robert Walters PLC is GBp225.00, about 118.4% above its March 10 closing price of GBp103.00

For questions concerning the data in this report, contact Estimates.Support@lseg.com. For any other questions or feedback, contact reuters.support@thomsonreuters.com.

(This story was created using Reuters automation and AI based on LSEG and company data. It was checked and edited by a Reuters journalist prior to publication.)