Informe financiero anual
ROBERT WALTERS PLC (LA "COMPAÑÍA")
Informe financiero anual
Copies of the Annual Report & Accounts of the Company for the year ended 31 December 2023, the Circular to shareholders of the Company, including Notice of the Annual General Meeting ("AGM") of the Company, currently scheduled to be held on Tuesday, 30 April 2024, and the form of proxy for use at the Annual General Meeting, have been submitted to the National Storage Mechanism and will shortly be available for inspection at: https://data.fca.org.uk/#/nsm/nationalstoragemechanism
El Informe Anual y Cuentas 2023 ya está disponible en la página web de la Compañía (en formato pdf y ESEF) en:
https://www.robertwaltersgroup.com/investors/financial-reports.html
El Aviso de AGM y el formulario de poder también están disponibles en el sitio web de la Compañía en:
https://www.robertwaltersgroup.com/investors/annual-general-meeting.html
Hard copies of the above documents will be mailed to those shareholders having elected to receive paper copies.
In accordance with Disclosure and Transparency Rule 6.3.5, the information in the attached Appendix consisting of a Directors' Responsibility Statement, principal risks and uncertainties and related party transactions has been extracted unedited from the Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2023 and should be read in conjunction with the Company's final results for the year ended 31 December 2023 which were announced in unedited full text on Thursday, 7 March 2024.
Consultas:
Tony Hunter, Secretario de la empresa +44 (0) 20 7379 3333
APÉNDICE
Declaración de responsabilidad de los directores según DTR4
Lo confirmamos a nuestro leal saber y entender:
? The Group financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the applicable set of accounting standards, give a true and fair view of the assets, liabilities, financial position and profit or loss of the Group and the undertakings included in the consolidation taken as a whole; and
? The Annual Report includes a fair review of the development and performance of the business and the financial position of the Group and the Parent Company together with a description of the principal risks and uncertainties that they face.
Por orden de la Junta,
David Bower
Director Financiero
7 de marzo de 2024
Principales riesgos e incertidumbres
La Junta considera la gama completa de riesgos comerciales que afectan al Grupo de manera regular y toma medidas para abordar dichos riesgos. Los principales riesgos percibidos son los siguientes:
(i) Factores políticos, incertidumbre económica, ambiental y de mercado
The level of candidate and client confidence in the employment market and job availability are important factors in determining the total number of recruitment transactions in a given year and are significantly impacted by political and economic turbulence and uncertainty.
Candidates are less inclined to move jobs when the number of jobs available is in decline or stagnant, which could lead to a deterioration in the Group's financial performance.
Continued global political turbulence could add pressure to local economies and have a significant negative impact on the jobs market and result in reduced hiring volumes.
Climate change (including increased extreme weather events) could result in geopolitical disruption and could have an impact on job losses and the job market.
The Group is geographically diversified, spanning 31 countries which limits the reliance on the success of any particular market. The Group also continues to develop its contract business, which provides more resilient revenue streams in the event of an economic downturn. The Group has successfully diversified into other sectors to reduce its concentration risk in the event of a downturn.
The Board's strategy when facing a slowdown in a market is to balance the cost base, such that the impact on profit is mitigated, against the expected future benefit from the retention of key staff. Historically, the Group has benefited substantially from increased operational gearing as a result of its policy of deliberately retaining key staff through economic downturns.
El negocio de Resource Solutions está preparado para respaldar la reubicación de trabajadores, con la oportunidad de aprovechar la infraestructura existente dentro del Grupo Robert Walters. La disponibilidad de trabajo en vivo se monitorea para garantizar que los planes de acción estén documentados para una acción inmediata en respuesta a cualquier impacto adverso potencial en los volúmenes de contratación.
El Grupo tiene una gestión de costes fuerte pero prudente. La gerencia monitorea continuamente el impacto continuo de los factores políticos y económicos, y el aumento de la incertidumbre del mercado en mercados individuales, implementando las acciones apropiadas según sea necesario.
El impacto de los problemas ambientales relacionados con el clima en el Grupo y los mercados locales se considera de manera continua. Un Comité ESG se reúne regularmente para ayudar a la Junta a identificar y evaluar los riesgos y oportunidades relacionados con el clima.
(ii) Atracción y retención de talento
The Group relies heavily on recruiting and retaining talented individuals with the right and diverse skill sets to grow the business.
In addition, as the Group expands its operations in emerging markets, the supply of people with the required skills in specific geographic regions may be limited.
Failure to attract and retain key employees with the required sales, management and leadership skills may adversely affect the Group's financial results.
The overall culture and leadership behaviours of an organisation has a direct influence on performance and retention.
An inability to maintain and continue to strive for a truly diverse and inclusive culture could have an adverse impact on talent attraction and retention, strategic thinking, decision-making and overall employee engagement.
A global pandemic, eco-anxiety and unusual stressful working environments could have an impact on employees' mental health, which could lead to increased staff turnover and reduced engagement.
Increased importance of ESG, alignment of personal and employer's purpose and action against climate change and flexible working, could have an impact on attraction and retention of staff.
La política del Grupo de vincular los bonos a la rentabilidad en unidades operativas discretas tiene una alta correlación con la retención de miembros del personal eficientes y efectivos.
Los planes de incentivos a largo plazo que se detallan en la nota 19 de las cuentas forman una parte clave de una estrategia más amplia para mejorar los niveles de retención del personal, en particular de los empleados senior del Grupo.
El Grupo ofrece oportunidades de carrera internacional y fomenta activamente la redistribución del talento existente a las oficinas internacionales y también para establecer nuevas oficinas.
Other elements of the strategy to improve staff retention and maximise career opportunities include significant investment of time and financial resources in employee training and development including regular appraisals, aimed at core consultant competencies and focused on enhancing management potential.
The Group's culture and the associated processes help to increase productivity and improve employee alignment to the business. A comprehensive approach to succession planning and career development is also in place across the Group.
Our equity, diversity and inclusion (ED&I) initiatives are encapsulated as part of wider ESG targets and associated KPIs. The Board promotes, monitors and benchmarks ED&I, with initiatives and actions being a focus across all of the Group's regions.
The Group has a Global Head of Equity, Diversity & Inclusion to drive our ongoing commitment to a working environment that promotes inclusion, dignity and respect for all. A Group-wide ED&I council is in place, the purpose of which is to create a forum for staff to discuss topical ED&I issues and to ensure, as a business, we are striving to create a truly inclusive culture. All-inclusive leadership training for all managers form part of the Group's training programme.
The Group does not accept or tolerate inappropriate behaviour and has clear policies and processes to that effect.
Nuestro enfoque de ESG se deriva de nuestro propósito y se centra en los seis pilares de nuestra estrategia ESG: Involucrar a nuestra fuerza laboral, Mejorar nuestras iniciativas ED&I, Responder a un mundo laboral sostenible, Reducir nuestro impacto ambiental, Ser una empresa responsable y Apoyar a nuestras comunidades. Nuestra estrategia ESG se basa en nuestra evaluación de materialidad y se alinea con los 17 Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible (ODS) de las Naciones Unidas. Esto garantiza que nuestras acciones estén alineadas con las ideas más recientes y las mejores prácticas, y que podamos responder a las áreas de preocupación más críticas de manera eficaz y ágil.
There are a significant number of mental health and wellbeing initiatives in place across the Group and they are considered as high priority by management.
(iii) Competencia y tecnologías emergentes
Competition risk varies in each of the Group's main regions depending on the maturity of the client and candidate market. The emergence of new technology platforms such as web-based applications and artificial intelligence for recruitment purposes may also lead to increased competition. The release of OpenAI's ChatGPT and the increasing use of generative AI could have an impact on the recruitment process for both clients and candidates.
El desarrollo de sólidas relaciones comerciales con los clientes ha permitido al Grupo ganar y luego mantener sus contratos con grandes organizaciones globales y el Grupo también tiene un flujo de ingresos significativo y diverso en el mercado de las PYME.
El Grupo revisa y monitorea los cambios en la tecnología y las tendencias de las redes sociales para asegurar que evolucione adecuadamente. El Grupo continúa promocionándose como un reclutador de relaciones que opera en mercados especializados, asegurando que su presencia en línea sea competitiva y brinde una experiencia de cliente de alta calidad.
A través de nuestros equipos de innovación, marketing, experiencia del cliente (CX) y tecnología y transformación, continuamos identificando, probando y adoptando nuevas tecnologías para mejorar y aumentar el servicio que nuestros consultores pueden brindar e impulsar la eficiencia en todo nuestro negocio.
Time is a critical resource, and we're seeking to harness fast-evolving technological change (e.g. the deployment of AI to reduce human time given to standardised tasks) on behalf of our consultants so they can spend even more time with their clients and candidates. In 2023 we launched our OpenAI Playground, our own private and secure version of ChatGPT (enabled in our Microsoft Azure environment). Our consultants are incorporating AI to enhance job adverts and assist with sales outreach to name just a few examples.
(iv) Brand, reputation and business strategy
There is an inherent risk that the brand and reputation of the Group could be impacted by failure to maintain high-quality service levels to both candidates and clients.
The increasing use of social media increases the Group's exposure to reputational damage.
La falta de demostración de progreso en la reducción de nuestro impacto ambiental y el cumplimiento de nuestros objetivos de la estrategia ESG podría tener un impacto negativo en la reputación del Grupo.
Los estándares de control de calidad se mantienen y revisan para cada etapa del ciclo de contratación.
A 'contact us' email address is available on the Group's websites to give users and candidates the ability to provide feedback or concerns. These can then be acted upon swiftly by the Chief Strategy & Transformation Officer and local senior management. The Group has a well-defined whistleblowing process which can be accessed by candidates, clients and suppliers. To complement this and in line with best practices, the Group has appointed an independent confidential reporting service where concerns can be raised anonymously and treated with complete confidence.
The Group's long-term strategy for growth is centered around geographic penetration and discipline diversification. It is a testament to this strategy and underlying strength of the Group's brand and management team that we have delivered a resilient performance throughout the difficult market conditions.
Candidate satisfaction surveys are carried out on a regular basis, with Directors addressing any negative feedback directly with the candidate or client.
El Grupo se ha comprometido con el seguimiento y la supervisión continuos de nuestros principales KPI ESG, incluidas las métricas y objetivos relevantes para el clima. Estos se describen en su totalidad en la página 37.
(v) Riesgo del candidato
Una experiencia negativa del candidato como resultado de un servicio deficiente del candidato, violación de datos u otra insatisfacción del candidato, podría dar lugar a quejas de los candidatos, pérdida de calidad de la base de candidatos o pérdida de referencias.
Clear processes are in place around candidate engagement and active candidate management. Quality control standards are maintained and reviewed for each stage of the recruitment cycle with all new employees receiving appropriate levels of training applicable to their role.
We have an ongoing global review dedicated to refining our engagement with candidates and to ensure that best practice candidate experience protocols are delivered consistently across the Group.
Supervisamos las tendencias de los consumidores fuera de la industria de contratación y analizamos cómo las expectativas cambiantes de los consumidores podrían impulsar el imperativo de cambio dentro de nuestra industria.
Seguimos desarrollando las formas en que usamos Microsoft Power BI para ofrecer información empresarial y de gestión.
(vi) Non-compliance with contractual obligations
The Group operates under a number of complex contractual arrangements. Any non-compliance with contractual obligations may have an adverse effect on the Group's financial performance and reputation.
Los términos y condiciones contractuales se revisan minuciosamente antes de la firma para garantizar que las disposiciones del contrato se comprendan por completo, los riesgos se asignen de manera justa entre las partes y se supervisen para garantizar que se cumplan las obligaciones contractuales.
An escalation process exists such that contracts with nonstandard terms are reviewed and approved by the Chief Legal Officer and Chief Financial Officer as appropriate.
(vii) Non-compliance with laws and regulations and regulatory environment
The Group operates in a number of diverse jurisdictions and has to comply with numerous domestic and international laws and regulations.
Any non-compliance with legislation or regulatory requirements may result in legal penalties, non-renewal or revocation of a local business licence or financial loss which could have a detrimental effect on the Group's financial performance and reputation. Specifically, the landscape of carbon reporting, data protection and use of AI is rapidly changing, increasing the risk of non-compliance with reporting requirements.
Any change in the regulatory environment, particularly impacting employment legislation for both candidates and clients, could have a detrimental effect on how the Group operates and the Group's financial performance. Any unanticipated change or implementation of climate policies may result in increased costs and a possible threat to licences to operate if the Group is unable to keep up with legal requirements.
Para garantizar el cumplimiento, nuestro departamento legal trabaja con asesores externos líderes, según sea necesario, para monitorear posibles cambios en la legislación laboral en los mercados en los que operamos.
El departamento legal del Grupo, junto con la experiencia legal local, se mantiene actualizado con cualquier cambio regulatorio propuesto, lo que le da al Grupo tiempo suficiente para evaluar el impacto e implementar procesos para minimizar la exposición y maximizar la oportunidad.
Se mantiene un registro de licencias y renovaciones. Existe una formalización de informes regulatorios y escalamientos con supervisión legal de los procesos de concesión de licencias, y el Grupo hace uso de asesoría externa cuando es necesario.
The Group has set environmental targets and corporate strategy to reduce carbon emissions and has made disclosures consistent with the TCFD recommendations and recommended disclosures. Appropriate disclosures are made where they are considered to have a material impact on business strategy, operations or the environment. Although the Group does not operate in a sector with a significant environmental impact, the Group recognises its requirements and embraces environmental stewardship.
(viii) Violación de datos y ciberseguridad
Una violación de datos, un ataque cibernético o la pérdida de información confidencial y competitiva podría tener un impacto significativo en los resultados financieros del Grupo y un impacto adverso en las operaciones y la reputación del Grupo.
The Group maintains a comprehensive IT security policy. Though it is not possible to eliminate all risk, the policy covers all relevant areas of IT security, and is reviewed on a regular basis to ensure it continues to robustly support business developments.
Se utilizan asesores externos para realizar pruebas de penetración en los principales sistemas y operaciones.
Toda la información de candidatos y clientes se mantiene de forma segura con acceso restringido y con reglas de protección de datos vigentes.
Appropriate guidance and training on the security and handling of both manual and electronic documents, including confidential and sensitive data is available to all staff.
The Group has a dedicated Chief Technology Architect and Group Information Security Officer with specific remits to consider and ensure that appropriate and reasonable controls are put in place, particularly in respect of cyber related threats and data breach.
The Group has appointed a Data Protection Officer to oversee the handling of personal data and compliance with Data Protection laws.
(ix) Reliance on technology infrastructure
El Grupo depende de su infraestructura tecnológica para las operaciones diarias y para brindar servicios a clientes y candidatos.
Una interrupción crítica de la infraestructura o del sistema podría tener un impacto material en los resultados financieros del Grupo y un impacto adverso en las operaciones y la reputación del Grupo.
El cambio climático podría dar lugar a más fenómenos meteorológicos extremos, que podrían causar daños e interrupciones en la infraestructura tecnológica del Grupo.
El Grupo continúa revisando y mejorando sus planes de continuidad comercial y recuperación ante desastres para mitigar cualquier interrupción de la infraestructura crítica. El Grupo ha invertido en tecnología e innovación, lo que permite un trabajo híbrido efectivo y continuo.
Se utilizan asesores externos para realizar pruebas de penetración en los principales sistemas y operaciones.
Se cuenta con un equipo de gestión de cambios para garantizar que se tomen en cuenta todos los requisitos de cambio, incluido un análisis de riesgo del requisito, y se desarrollen planes apropiados para hacer frente a posibles interrupciones críticas.
Our disaster recovery processes, which are regularly reviewed, ensure the Group is able to mitigate natural disaster risks (e.g. floods, earthquakes), and the Group is also geographically diversified. In addition, all staff have the tools and flexibility to work remotely as required.
(x) Financial risk
Riesgo de moneda extranjera
In the course of its core business, the Group transacts in a number of functional currencies. Any unfavourable movement in the foreign exchange rates may have an adverse effect on translation of overseas operations' local currency earnings, and subsequently the Group's Pounds Sterling financial results.
Los ingresos y costos están en sus monedas funcionales en las entidades locales, lo que minimiza la exposición transaccional del Grupo.
El Grupo continúa monitoreando la sensibilidad a las fluctuaciones de la moneda extranjera mediante la realización de análisis de sensibilidad periódicos y la reducción de la exposición siempre que sea posible.
Riesgo de liquidez
An adverse cash position, or the inability to access capital/funding could result in an inability to pay creditors and to fulfil day-to-day operations and requirements.
The future success of the Group could be affected if the Group fails to align its capital planning with its business strategy.
Los pronósticos de flujo de efectivo y capital de trabajo se preparan y revisan periódicamente para garantizar que el Grupo permanezca en una posición de balance sólida y se crea un plan detallado para cualquier oportunidad de crecimiento antes de ejecutar cualquier acuerdo para garantizar que se cuenta con la financiación adecuada.
Riesgo crediticio
There is an increased uncertainty over cash flows due to economic pressures, which could increase the risk that a counterparty will default on its contractual obligations resulting in financial loss to the Group.
The Group has adopted a policy of only dealing with counterparties that are deemed creditworthy and that are considered to have adequate credit ratings.
Credit exposure is controlled by counterparty limits that are reviewed and approved by management.
The Group's exposure and the credit ratings of its counterparties are regularly monitored.
(xi) Transformation, change and management of significant projects
Investing in technology, transformation and innovation is vital for the Group to remain an industry-leading organisation and in achieving its strategic objectives.
Poor governance and management of our significant global projects could result in increased costs, inefficiencies, reduced employee engagement and risk to business continuity.
A Technology & Transformation Investment Board, including members of the Operating Board and the Transformation and Portfolio Director, reviews and approves all significant technology and transformation investments before they begin.
A Change Advisory Board is in place, which ensures that appropriate consideration is given to the introduction of changes to our live environments.
A monthly steering committee/weekly core project team meeting is held with representatives from key areas involved or impacted by the project/program. The steering committee/project team reviews progress against the current program objectives, spend and approves any significant changes to both. Regular program team meetings are conducted to manage the day-to-day activities of the program. Other governance sessions include product counsel and program, product, technology and business working groups.
Business change plans are in place to actively communicate and engage with employees throughout the process of transformation and change and include ongoing evaluation and feedback to ensure the impact of any change is continually monitored and improved. This includes the use of change champions in each region, user feedback surveys, quarterly updates, relevant training and communication channels with key stakeholders. The outputs from these activities are used to support evidence-based decision making.
Transacciones con partes relacionadas
Transactions between Robert Walters Plc and its subsidiaries, which are related parties, have been eliminated on consolidation and are not disclosed in this note. The remuneration of key management personnel who are deemed to be Directors as been disclosed in the Report of the Remuneration Committee on pages 74 to 97.
During the year, there were no related party transactions included within administrative expenses (2022: nil)
There were no outstanding balances at 31 December 2023.
Todas las transacciones se realizaron en condiciones de plena competencia.
RNS puede usar su dirección IP para confirmar el cumplimiento de los términos y condiciones, para analizar cómo interactúa con la información contenida en esta comunicación y para compartir dicho análisis de forma anónima con otros como parte de nuestros servicios comerciales. Para obtener más información sobre cómo RNS y la Bolsa de Valores de Londres utilizan los datos personales que nos proporciona, consulte nuestra Política de privacidad.