Finance
UK's Robert Walters abandons profit view in tough hiring market
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on January 14, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 27, 2026
Global Banking & Finance Review®
Company
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on January 14, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 27, 2026
Robert Walters revises its profit outlook to breakeven due to a 14% drop in Q4 income amid challenging global hiring conditions.
(Reuters) - Robert Walters said on Tuesday it no longer expects a profit for the year, after the British recruiter reported a 14% drop in fourth-quarter income from fees at constant currency due to challenging conditions in global hiring markets.
"We now expect a broadly breakeven position at the profit before tax level for the full year," Chief Executive Toby Fowlston said in a statement.
Robert Walters, which specialises in hiring for the legal, accountancy and technology sectors, had earlier forecast a profitable year, while market expectations were for an annual pre-tax profit of 2.2 million pounds.
Recruitment firms have been battling sluggish hiring market conditions over the past year as lower unemployment levels, and financial and economic upheaval in key markets such as France, Germany, and the UK, have sapped the confidence of employers and job seekers alike.
The company said its net fee income was 75.5 million pounds ($92.19 million) for the three months ended Dec. 31, compared with 91.4 million pounds a year earlier.
On Monday, peer PageGroup warned on profit for the second time in six months and highlighted deteriorating conditions across major markets.
($1 = 0.8190 pounds)
(Reporting by Shashwat Awasthi and Prerna Bedi; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)
The main topic is Robert Walters revising its profit outlook due to challenging global hiring conditions.
The change is due to a 14% drop in income from fees and tough hiring market conditions.
Sluggish hiring markets and economic upheaval in key regions led to a revised profit outlook.
Explore more articles in the Finance category
