Robert Walters profits drop as banking sector slowdown bites
RECRUITER Robert Walters said pre-tax profits halved to £3.4m in the six months to the end of June, though its international presence helped boost revenues 14 per cent to £275m.
Net fee income rose 3.7 per cent to £92.4m, helped by a five per cent rise in UK incomes to £23.9m.
The firm has trimmed its own staffing in banking recruitment, which has been more than offset by hiring in new markets such as Brazil to take average headcount up 15 per cent.
Eponymous chief executive Robert Walters said the job culls among large banks appear to be levelling off. “We are still placing people in banks so it’s not come to a stop,” he told City A.M. “I don’t think there’s much more to come in the areas we work in – they’re pretty lean and mean already. [More job losses] would mean moving out of whole sectors altogether rather than cutting back.”