Robert Walters downbeat on outlook as Q2 net fees drop

(Sharecast News) - Recruiter Robert Walters struck a downbeat tone on the outlook on Tuesday as it reported a drop in second-quarter fee income on Tuesday, citing macroeconomic uncertainty. Group net fee income fell 13% on the same period a year ago to £72.7m. The company said that while net fees were higher than in the first quarter, macroeconomic uncertainty became more pronounced, with forward indicators - new job flow and interviews - slightly weaker compared to the end of the first quarter.

Net fee income in Asia Pacific was down 9% to £32.9m, while Europe saw a 22% drop to £21.5m.

UK net fee income declined 8% to £12.1m, while Rest of World saw a 2% dip to £6.2m.

Chief executive Toby Fowlston said: "Geographically, we continued to see the most challenging conditions in Europe, with a more resilient performance in the UK and stable trends in Asia-Pacific.

"With the external environment continuing to constrain client and candidate confidence, our planning assumption remains that there will be no material improvement in hiring markets in the near term.

"However, we continue to have high conviction in our disciplined entrepreneurialism strategy and therefore took further strategic action during the quarter to drive greater efficiency. We exited the first half with our monthly cost base having reduced on 2024 levels, and anticipate further progress in the second half of the year."