City recruiter says bankers aren’t leaving
ROBERT WALTERS, the chief executive at one of the City’s largest recruitment agencies, yesterday backtracked on comments he made earlier this year suggesting there would be an exodus of bankers from London.
Walters told City A.M. that his recruitment business, Robert Walters, had yet to see the mass exit of bankers from the City that he predicted in March and suggested that a change in government meant that “people were sitting tight”.
“The coalition government is doing all of the right things at the moment. I don’t think we’ve seen a massive exit of bankers yet as people are waiting to see what the government is going to do,” said Walters.
His comments come as the recruiter saw a return to profitability during the first six month of its financial year after posting £5.2m in profits. During the same period last year Robert Walters reported losses of £2.3m as the recruitment market dried up.
The group saw revenue for the period come to £188.8m, marking a 33 per cent hike on last year when the group reported £141.7m in income.
Walters said the group’s positive financial results were directly linked to the success of the company’s Asia Pacific business.
Fee income in the region rose by 81 per cent to £34.4m from £19m.
Trading conditions continued to be difficult in the UK and Europe, said the recruiter, and the outlook remained uncertain.
Up to 70 per cent of Robert Walter’s fees come from outside the UK.