Shares plunge in London-listed recruiter hit by soaring costs and Afghanistan turmoil
The RTC Group has been hit by soaring operational costs and higher employment levels, as the recruiter wrestles with a pandemic-era trend of people not wanting to change their jobs.
The London-listed company’s revenue fell from £81.4m in 2020 to £77.7m in the year to 31 December, as its CEO explained the removal of Western troops from Afghanistan in August had swallowed a chunk out of their international income.
With investors seemingly spooked, shares plunged more than 18.5 per cent to 28.50p per share by mid-afternoon.
RTC’s earnings per share have collapsed in the period, pulling in around 4.66p a piece in 2020, to 0.04p last year.
The recruiter’s profit from operations also dwindled from the £1.1m it secured in 2020, to just £300,000 over the past 12-months.
In a statement this morning, CEO Andy Pendlebury noted the “extremely challenging” business environment last year.
“The Covid-19 pandemic continued to significantly impact client demand across many markets and where requirements for contract labour remained strong this was accompanied by higher operational costs to ensure the safety and wellbeing of our workforce; candidate reluctance to change employers/careers given these turbulent times and workers self-isolating increased both direct and indirect costs as programme and project continuity was heavily disrupted,” he added.
“In addition, the sudden and immediate demobilisation from Afghanistan due to the complete withdrawal in August of all American, United Kingdom and NATO troops curtailed a large contribution of revenue from our international business.”
Net cash outflow halved to £2.4m, though RTC managed to keep its working capital debt down to £1.9m, the same as 2020.