Robert Walters plunges into loss amid challenging hiring market
Shares at recruiter Robert Walters are down 5 per cent after the company reported nearly £8m in operating losses for H1 2025, as it grappled with a ‘challenging’ hiring market that led to rounds of redundancies.
After producing £0.2m in operating profits for the same period last year, the firm incurred £7.8m in losses over H1, was driven by a reduction in fee income.
Its group net fee income was also down by 14 per cent to £140m over the same period.
This comes on the back of Robert Walters overseeing a headcount cut, as it reduced its staff by 14 per cent year-on-year, resulting in the firm incurring £1.6m of cash redundancy costs during H1.
The slowing jobs market in the UK saw the firms overall revenue for the year ended 31 December plunge 16 per cent to £892m.
It appears that the cuts won’t be over anytime soon, as the board has informed shareholders that it anticipates further restructuring activities in H2 as it continues to position the business for a return to profitable growth.
No sign of green shoots yet
The headhunter’s board planning assumption remains that there will be no material improvement in hiring markets in the near term, but it said it “continues to progress execution of its disciplined entrepreneurialism strategy to position it strongly as markets improve.”
The focus for the group is on all elements of the cost base, and average monthly operating costs are anticipated to reduce further from the £24.5m level (excluding redundancy costs) as at the end of the first half.
Chief Executive Toby Fowlston explained: “Whilst our financial results were impacted by the external environment, we have more conviction than ever of the necessity for the strategic change we are making. We are strengthening our specialist recruitment geographic portfolio and seeing benefits from our margin improvement programme – a key underpin of our medium-term ambitions.”
“In response to changing client needs, we are developing a full suite of talent solutions which will be future growth engines for our business. We remain excited by the opportunity ahead to drive further strategic progress as markets improve,” he added.
The UK job market has continued to weaken; just earlier this month, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported that the unemployment rate rose to 4.7%, its highest level in four years.