Robert Walters' profits dive, headcount falls
Pre-tax profits were 900,000 (€1.3m) in the year to the end of December, down from 6.5m the year before. A decline in investment banking particularly affected recruitment for permanent positions; hiring for temporary jobs across all industries declined more slowly.
The firm slashed global headcount by 16.7% to 760 staff during the year, with most of the reduction in the last quarter. Turnover rose slightly from 254m to 260m.
Robert Walters, the chief executive, said: 'We remain extremely cautious in our outlook. Markets are highly volatile and difficult to predict.' Trading conditions had become especially difficult in the last quarter of 2002.
The firm operates in the accounting, IT, legal and other sectors as well as financial services, mostly handling medium-level and junior roles.
Last month rival firm Michael Page also reported a fall in pre-tax profits, from 59.9m to 32.6m.
