After reporting reasonably robust growth in net fee income (NFI – gross profit) in Q1 (see here), UK-headquartered international recruitment firm Robert Walters suffered a decline in NFI in Q2 (to 30th June) due to what its eponymous CEO referred to as ‘deteriorating conditions in the global financial markets’.
Group NFI declined by 2% at constant exchange rates (CER) to £47.6m, though the UK business (25% of group NFI) was broadly flat. Worst hit was Asia Pacific, down 6% at CER and now about half the total, with Americas/South Africa the only region where NFI grew (+10%) though only accounting for 3% of group NFI. Nonetheless, Robert Walters continues to open offices in UK, Australia and Brazil.
We are sure to see reference to ‘deteriorating market conditions’ in the H1 results of the leading international IT players, who will start reporting next week.