25th Oct 2023 11:31
(Alliance News) - RWS Holdings PLC shares plunged on Wednesday, as it said it expects adjusted annual profit to be in line with expectations, but lower than the year before along with reported revenue.
Shares in the technology-enabled language services provider fell 18% to 195.10 pence each in London on Wednesday late morning.
In the financial year that ended September 30, it said it expects adjusted pretax profit to be in line with market expectations, despite reported revenue falling by around 2%.
RWS noted that the latest group-compiled view of analysts' expectations for financial 2023 gives a range of GBP738.1 million to GBP757.4 million for revenue, and GBP116.5 million to GBP129.0 million for adjusted pretax profit. In financial 2022, RWS reported revenue of GBP749.2 million and adjusted pretax profit of GBP135.7 million.
"Delivery of the significant cost actions announced in June is nearly complete and we continue to identify further opportunities for efficiency gains through our transformation programmes, including by increasing the proportion of work undertaken through our Language eXperience Delivery platform and the use of AI internally," the company said.
Net cash stood at around GBP23 million at September 30 from GBP72 million a year earlier, after GBP30.8 million of acquisition costs and GBP46.3 million in dividends and GBP19.4 million on share buybacks.
"Despite the ongoing challenges in our some of our markets, we are successfully pivoting into higher growth segments, continuing to invest to develop our AI-centred technology solutions, building on our strong acquisition track record and transforming the group into a scalable platform which will support organic and inorganic growth," said Chief Executive Ian El-Mokadem.
"With our strong balance sheet and cash generation, global scale and reach and unique combination of market-leading expertise and technology, we remain confident about the group's long-term prospects."
RWS will provide a further update with its full-year results on December 12.
By Greg Rosenvinge, Alliance News reporter
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