(Alliance News) - RPS Group PLC on Wednesday reported a deteriorated performance in 2019 but said it expects earnings to stabilise going forward.
In addition, the professional services firm said Director of Strategy Judith Cottrell will succeed Finance Director Gary Young upon his retirement at the end of April. Young has been in the role for 20 years and decided not offer himself for re-election at the company's annual general meeting.
Meanwhile, RPS said Cottrell has over 20 years' experience in senior finance and operational roles, including as chief executive for RPS's Consulting UK & Ireland segment.
Turning back to annual results, RPS said revenue declined in 2019 to GBP612.6 million from GBP637.4 million in 2018 amid lower fee income, which fell to GBP556.5 million from GBP574.2 million.
Pretax profit also came in lower year-on-year, at GBP4.8 million compared to GBP41.0 million as the company booked an exceptional charge of GBP23.4 million versus none a year ago. This included a goodwill impairment charge relating to the impairment of the RPS business in Asia-Pacific. Performance of this business was poor in the first half of 2019, RPS noted.
Elsewhere, RPS said the Energy unit benefited from improving market conditions and had a "good" year.
Meanwhile, the political uncertainty in the UK hurt Consulting UK & Ireland division, although the uncertainty was reduced by the outcome of the UK general election, which took place in December.
The performance of Services UK & Netherlands was hurt, RPS noted, by the "usual" reduction in activity on the England and Wales water business as the current asset management plan regulatory cycle entered its final year.
Despite strong markets in North America, RPS said its performance was "disappointing", largely due to ongoing retention and recruitment challenges in the region.
"In 2019 we had to contend with several headwinds which significantly impacted on the results," explained Chief Executive John Douglas. "Despite these headwinds, we made considerable progress in respect of our strategic priorities."
Douglas added: "As we enter 2020, trading conditions in our markets are generally satisfactory and we anticipate more stable results from our segments.
"The board remains confident in the medium term outlook for the group and anticipates that the year ahead will be broadly in line with 2019 with growth accelerating in 2021."
RPS shares were trading 16% lower early on Wednesday at 145.00 pence each.
By Evelina Grecenko; evelinagrecenko@alliancenews.com
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