11th Mar 2026 13:16
(Alliance News) - Robert Walters PLC on Wednesday said it swung to a loss after revenue fell in 2025 in a "challenging" year for the hiring market given "considerable macro and geopolitical volatility".
The London-based recruitment firm said it swung to a pretax loss of GBP19.6 million for 2025, from a GBP500,000 profit in 2024.
Revenue fell 12% to GBP781.1 million from GBP892.1 million, leaving a net fee income of GBP274.2 million, down 15% from GBP321.4 million.
Shares in Robert Walters were down 6.8% at 95.96 pence on Wednesday afternoon in London. The stock has fallen 59% over the last 12 months.
"2025 was a third challenging year for global hiring markets, with client and candidate sentiment still cautious given the considerable macro and geopolitical volatility of the first half of the 2020s. The resultant decline in group net fees, over half of which was offset through cost actions, resulted in a loss for the year. The financial result, which includes restructuring costs, is unsatisfactory to everyone at Robert Walters - but 2025 was not defined by it," said Chief Executive Toby Fowlston.
"In the face of the challenging conditions, we continued to implement self-help measures, focused on ensuring a robust balance sheet and moved to further position the business to address the significant long-term market opportunity."
Robert Walters did not propose a dividend for the year, down from 23.5 pence per share in 2024. The firm said it was "mindful of the importance of a strong balance sheet position to enable execution of the group's strategic and operational priorities in the near term, as well as the overall still volatile macro backdrop".
Looking ahead, it said trading in the first two months of 2026 has been in line with its expectations.
It noted that the second half of 2025 was marked by "increasing divergence" in some of its specialist recruitment markets, with an "increasingly well-entrenched" recovery in the UK, Spain and New Zealand, while northern Europe was "comparatively more muted".
It expects net fee income in 2026 to be "slightly below" 2025, as reflected in the currency company-compiled consensus for net fee income of GBP265.4 million in 2026, which would be down 3.2% from GBP274.2 million in 2025.
CEO Fowlston added: "2026 will see further meaningful reduction in the cost base, continued portfolio management actions in specialist recruitment, and a step up in our capability and delivery of the cross-sell opportunity we have as a total talent solutions business. Our clients' talent challenges continue to be shaped by long-term structural drivers, and we have a full suite of solutions to help them."
By Michael Hennessey, Alliance News reporter
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