LONDON (ShareCast) - International recruitment group Robert Walters has said that full-year profits will be at the "upper end of market expectations" after a decent second quarter.

Net fee income, or gross profit, for the three months to June 30th totaled £53.9m, up 5% on the prior year but 12% higher on a constant exchange rate (CER) basis.

The company said this the was the seventh straight quarter of net fee income growth at CER across all of its regions.

Its largest geographical region, Asia Pacific, saw gross profits improve by 9% at CER to £23.5m, as strong performances in Japan, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Thailand offset a "tough" environment in Australia.

UK gross profits rose 21%, Europe grew 6% while Other International increased 31%, with the latter region helped by recently opened operations in San Francisco and Dubai.

"This performance serves to highlight the strength, depth and diversity that the group has in terms of both geography and discipline and is testament to our decision to invest in the business throughout the downturn," said Chief Executive Robert Walters.

"The performance is encouraging particularly given the challenging market conditions that continued to prevail in France and Australia, two of the Group's largest markets."

The stock was 2.1% higher at 318.12p by 09:29.

BC

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