Losses double at global recruiter despite sales passing £2bn
Losses at a UK-headquartered global recruitment giant more doubled despite its revenue passing the $3bn (£2.2bn) mark during its latest financial year.
Altrincham-headquartered NES Fircroft has posted a pre-tax loss of $67.7m for the 12 months to 31 October, 2024, according to new accounts filed with Companies House.
The loss comes after the business also posted a deficit of £33.4m for the prior 12 months.
However, the recruiter also posted a revenue of $3bn for the year, up from $2.6bn.
NES Fircroft also has UK offices in Manchester, Warrington, London, Aberdeen and on Teeside as well as 88 locations across the world
The company was formed in September 2020 through a merger of NES Global Talent and the Fircroft Group.
The recruiter said its loss after tax of $83.5m was as a result of non-cash expenses, $163.2m in finance costs, $700,000 in finance income, $12.1m depreciation and $16.6m amortisation charges.
Its expenses in the year surged from $5.4m to $16.6m.
The results filed with Companies House are the top accounts published in the UK. The wider group is headquartered in Jersey and those accounts are not filed with Companies House.
However, the wider group’s results have been published on the firm’s website.
According to that document, the group’s revenue was the same but its pre-tax loss totalled $10.6m, having made a pre-tax profit of $18.1m in the prior year.
Robert Walters slips to a loss
Last week, London-listed recruiter Robert Walters reported an operating loss of £7.8m for the first half of its financial year.
The company added that a “challenging” hiring market had led to rounds of redundancies.
Its group net fee income fell by 14 per cent to £140m while its headcount also reduced by the same percentage.
The board also informed shareholders that it anticipates further restructuring activities in the second half of 2025 as it continues to position the business for a return to profitable growth.
In March, the firm said a slowing jobs market in the UK saw its overall revenue for 2024 plunge 16 per cent to £892m.
UK jobs market sees ‘small burst’ in demand
New figures also released last month revealed that the UK labour market saw a “small burst” in demand for jobs in June but postings remain below levels seen last year.
In new jobs figures published by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) and Lightcast, the number of vacancies hit 757,594 in June, with London driving the monthly rise.
The capital saw a rise of 8.1 per cent in job postings, which REC chief executive Neil Carberry described as a positive “leading indicator” for trends improving across the country.
Researchers said the “small burst of hiring” was largely driven by significant increases in some sectors of the UK economy, including in demand for transport and logistic professionals.
Hays issues bleak forecast for recruitment market
In June, London-listed recruiter Hays downgraded its annual profit guidance and warned it expected “challenging market conditions to persist into 2026”.
The group said it was now forecasting pre-exceptional operating profits of around £45m in 2025, well below analyst consensus of £56.4m.
At the time, Hays added it expects group like-for-like net fees to decline by nine per cent year-on-year in the fourth quarter.
The FTSE 250 firm had already warned in April about economic uncertainty and a difficult jobs market.
Last month, London-listed PageGroup revealed its gross profit had fallen from £444.1m to £389.3m during the first half of its financial year.
The company said its performance had been “resilient” despite “market uncertainty” and “mixed results” across the group.
Adzuma falls into the red
In an op-ed written exclusively for CityAM in June James Reed, the chairman and CEO of recruitment giant Reed, said the UK jobs market is the worst he has ever seen after 35 consecutive months of decline.
Those comments came after CityAM reported that recruitment agencies are shutting for business at their fastest rate in 15 years as companies tear up hiring plans amid rising taxes and global economic uncertainty.
As many as 120 recruitment businesses have appointed liquidators in the past six months, analysis of insolvency disclosures found, a jump of 17 per cent compared to last year and the highest rate since the financial crash.
Earlier this year it was revealed that jobs website Adzuna had fallen into the red as its sales were slashed by a third after battling a “turbulent” economy and a fall in hiring activity.
The London-headquartered business reported a pre-tax loss of £276,797 for the 12 months to 30 June, 2024, after it achieved a pre-tax profit of £1.5m in the prior year.
Accounts filed with Companies House also showed that Adzuna’s turnover fell from £30.7m to £20.5m because of a “turbulent macro-economic environment and reduced recruitment advertising activity”.