Asia Pacific continues to hinder Robert Walters

Recruitment firm Robert Walters said net fee income for the third quarter ended September 30th was little changed as weakness in Asia Pacific weighed on otherwise strong growth particularly in the Americas and South Africa.

Group net fee income rose to £48.5m during the quarter from £48m the same time a year earlier. In Asia Pacific it fell to £24.1m from £25.4m while in the Americas and South Africa net income surged 45% to £1.8m.

In Europe it grew to £9.5m from £9.2m after strong growth rates in France and Germany. In the UK income rose to £13.1m from £12.1m.

The group, which purchased the remaining minority interest of its China business, said overall it is trading in line with expectations.

Chief Executive Robert Walters said: "These are solid results, given a global economic backdrop that continues to be challenging. Trading conditions in the UK, Continental Europe, the Americas and South Africa remained broadly unchanged in the third quarter, whilst Asia Pacific has continued to be impacted by the ongoing weakness in the financial services sector."

"The management structures that we have in place have always allowed us to react swiftly to market conditions; and our international brand strength, geographic and discipline diversity and experienced management team leave us well placed to meet these challenges and continue to deliver positive results."

Resource Solutions, the company's recruitment outsourcing business, won a number of new clients and largely underpinned the group's increase in headcount to 2,273 from 2,159 before.

Robert Walters has current net cash of £6m, up from £4.5m at June 30th 2012.

CJ