Robert Walters ends year stable amid tough recruitment market

(Sharecast News) - Robert Walters reported a broadly stable fourth-quarter trading performance compared with earlier in the year on Thursday, although group net fee income declined 14% year-on-year and performance diverged sharply by geography. In specialist recruitment, net fee income fell 18% year-on-year at a group level, with permanent recruitment down 12% and temporary recruitment down 17%.

The London-listed firm said the UK was a notable bright spot, with specialist recruitment net fee income rising 25%, driven by broad-based growth in London and a return to growth in the regions for the first time since late 2022.

Spain also showed further signs of recovery, while Australia and New Zealand saw continued improvement in temporary volumes.

By contrast, northern European markets remained under pressure, reflecting regulatory, political and macroeconomic uncertainty.

Regionally, Asia-Pacific, which accounts for 44% of group net fee income, saw total net fee income decline 12%, with specialist recruitment down 11% and recruitment outsourcing down 22%.

Europe, representing 30% of the group, recorded a 23% fall in net fee income, with weakness across France, the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany, although management noted sequential stability.

The UK, which contributes 17% of group net fee income, saw strong specialist recruitment growth offset by a 19% decline in recruitment outsourcing, leaving total net fee income down 9%.

In the rest of the world, specialist recruitment declined 19%, but that was partly offset by a 29% rise in recruitment outsourcing, resulting in a 1% increase in total net fee income.

Recruitment outsourcing performance continued to be affected by the annualisation of client churn from contracts that did not renew into 2025, although the company said retained clients were more resilient.

Net fee income per fee earner increased 3% year on year, supported by mix effects and stable fee rates, while specialist recruitment perm placements per perm fee earner rose 2% to 0.84 per month, underpinned by double-digit growth in the UK and southern Europe.

Chief executive Toby Fowlston said the group's fourth-quarter performance was "broadly consistent" with the third quarter.

"In specialist recruitment, we have stronger conviction that recovery is increasingly well-entrenched in the UK, which grew strongly; Spain, which saw sequential improvement as the turnaround continues; and ANZ, where temp volumes saw positive momentum throughout 2025," he said.

He added that conditions in northern Europe "remain challenging, albeit sequentially stable," and noted that recruitment outsourcing performance was again shaped by annualising client churn, while retained clients performed more resiliently.

Looking ahead, Fowlston said the group was acting "at pace and with purpose" as markets gradually recovered, but cautioned that the timing of any top-line inflection remained uncertain.

"Our initial planning assumption is for 2026 group net fee income to be slightly below 2025," he said, while emphasising continued focus on cost control, portfolio management and productivity.

The group ended the year with net cash of £26.2m and reduced its monthly cost run rate to below £24m, alongside a 12% year-on-year reduction in headcount.

At 1014 GMT, shares in Robert Walters were down 3.3% at 132p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.