Losses narrow at RSM Tenon

RSM TENON has made losses of £10m for the six months ending 31 December 2012.

The listed firm’s latest financial statement has shown that revenues have fallen compared to the same period a year ago, however it’s operating loss has narrowed.

The firm made a loss of £10m for the six months to 31 December 2012, however, this is a huge improvement on the £70.6m it posted for the corresponding period in 2011. Operating losses were £0.6m, compared to £10.9m in 2011.

Revenues were also down £9.8m, or 10%, to £88.4m. RSM Tenon attributes a large proportion of the fall to issues relating to its restructuring, including business disposals that would have accounted for £4m of revenues.

RSM chairman Tim Ingram said:“The significant progress in turning RSM Tenon around is evidenced by these results. The business is now smaller, better organised and properly managed. In a challenging market, we still have much to do, but the direction has been clearly set.”

RSM Tenon plans to separate the audit tax and advisory service lines into Audit, Accounts and Outsourcing (AAO) and tax. ATA as a division was the largest generator of operating profit (£6.9m) compared to turnaround and corporate recovery, which made an operating profit of £1.77m.

However, it revealed that new client wins remained low, with the firm suggesting it was impacted by the Retail Distribution Review (RDR), introduced by the FSA to create greater transparency in the financial advice market. RSM’s other core division – insolvency and restructuring – continued to struggle due to the lower than expected number of insolvencies.

The firm also plans to reduce overhead costs by increasing remote working and, as revealed by Accountancy Age, it is on the lookout for a new London location due to the rebuilding of its current Chiltern Street offices in the near future.

The firm’s headcount reduction exercise last year saw RSM Tenon reduce staff numbers 16% to 2,666, cutting 500 jobs. Due to this exercise it believes employee benefits have reduced about 15% or £11.3m to £63.2m. However, RSM hopes to continue to recruit in key areas, such as partner level.

Operating exceptional charges were £4.5m, compared to £66.5m for the corresponding period in 2011. This was due to various items such as business reorganisation costs, and professional indemnity expenses.

RSM Tenon CEO Chris Merry said: “Markets for our services remain tough and I am grateful to our clients and staff for their continued loyalty. We are delighted that the business is returning to operating profitability and now seek a period of stability to move into a growth phase for RSM Tenon.”

Borrowed £80.4m of the £93m facilities available to them.