For immediate
release
22 February 2024
RWS Holdings
plc
AGM
Statement
RWS Holdings plc ("RWS", "the Group"
or "the Company"), a unique world-leading provider of
technology-enabled language, content and intellectual property
services, is today holding its Annual General Meeting at which
Julie Southern, Chairman, will make the following
remarks:
"The Company made positive progress
in delivering its medium-term strategy during FY23, particularly in
respect of its client wins, traction with technology and growth
initiatives, as well as with regards to its transformation
programme, drive for further efficiencies and portfolio
expansion. The Group continued to
demonstrate considerable resilience against a backdrop of global
uncertainty with increasing dividends and
returning excess capital to shareholders through a share repurchase
programme, as well as continuing to invest in the business,
organically and through acquisitions.
Current trading and
outlook
"The full year outlook remains in
line with the Board's expectations. Whilst we remain mindful of the
macroeconomic environment and the continuing market pressures seen
in the prior year, client retention and satisfaction remain high,
our growth initiatives are contributing incremental revenue and we
continue to make progress with transforming the Group into a
scalable platform to support growth and profitability.
"We continue to see clear
opportunities for the Group to strengthen leadership in its
markets, and we remain well-placed to succeed through the wide
range of technology-enabled services that we offer in our
fast-moving markets. In January we successfully completed the beta
programme for Evolve (our groundbreaking linguistic AI solution
which offers significant efficiency gains for global enterprises
with substantial translation demands) and are already beginning to
see some early wins with enterprise-level clients, helping them
safely harness the benefits of AI.
"The Group remains cash generative
and has a strong balance sheet. We are leaders in the majority of
markets that we serve and are confident of the opportunities for
growth, underpinned by the long-term
structural drivers of demand for our products and services, and our
unique combination of human expertise and technology.
With our global scale and reach and diverse
portfolio of solutions, clients and end markets, we are confident
in the prospects of the Group."
Board appointments
As previously announced Lara Boro,
Senior Independent Director, will step down as a Non-executive
Director of the Company at the Annual General Meeting after 6 years
on the Board. The Company will announce the appointment of
Lara's successor as Senior Independent Director in due
course. Following the appointment of Paul Abbott and Graham
Cooke as independent Non-executive Directors with effect from 1
January 2024, the Board has agreed that Paul will join the
Remuneration Committee and Graham will join the Audit Committee in
addition to their membership of the Nomination
Committee.
For further information, please
visit: www.rws.com.
RWS
Holdings
plc
01753 480200
Julie Southern, Chairman
Ian El-Mokadem, Chief Executive
Officer
Candida Davies, Chief Financial
Officer
MHP
(Financial PR
advisor)
rws@mhpgroup.com
Katie Hunt / Eleni Menikou /
Catherine
Chapman
020 3128 8100
07884 494112
Deutsche Numis (Nomad & Joint
Broker)
020 7260 1000
Stuart Skinner / Will
Baunton
Berenberg (Joint
Broker)
020 3207 7800
Ben Wright / Toby Flaux / Milo
Bonser
About RWS
RWS Holdings plc is a unique,
world-leading provider of technology-enabled language, content and
intellectual property solutions. Through
content transformation and multilingual data analysis, our
combination of AI-enabled technology and human expertise helps our
clients to grow by ensuring they are understood anywhere, in any
language.
Our purpose is unlocking global
understanding. By combining cultural understanding, client
understanding and technical understanding, our services and
technology assist our clients to acquire and retain customers,
deliver engaging user experiences, maintain compliance and gain
actionable insights into their data and content.
Over the past 20 years we've been
evolving our own AI solutions as well as helping clients to
explore, build and use multilingual AI applications. With 45+
AI-related patents and more than 100 peer-reviewed papers, we have
the experience and expertise to support clients on their AI
journey.
We work with over 80% of the world's
top 100 brands, more than three-quarters of Fortune's 20 'Most
Admired Companies' and almost all of the top pharmaceutical
companies, investment banks, law firms and patent filers. Our
client base spans Europe, Asia Pacific, Africa and North and South
America. Our 65+ global locations across five continents service
clients in the automotive, chemical, financial, legal, medical,
pharmaceutical, technology and telecommunications
sectors.
Founded in 1958, RWS is
headquartered in the UK and publicly listed on AIM, the London
Stock Exchange regulated market (RWS.L).