KUALA LUMPUR: Australia-based online recruitment operator SEEK International Investment Pty Ltd has boosted its stake in its Malaysian counterpart Jobstreet Corp Bhd to 21.35%.

According to filings with Bursa Malaysia on March 9, SEEK acquired a total of 19.16 million shares or 6.1% direct stake in Jobstreet between March 3 and 8, lifting its stake to 21.35% from 15.23% on March 2.

SEEK owns 66.89 million shares in Jobstreet following the latest share acquisition, making Jobstreet an associate company of SEEK and enabling the group to equity account for Jobstreet’s earnings going forward.

Filings showed that SEEK acquired the shares from Jobstreet’s founder and CEO Mark Chang who disposed of 4.5 million shares or 1.44% at RM2.05 per share and several other directors, including Jobstreet’s non-executive director Ng Kay Yip who parted with 4.17 million shares or a 1.33% stake.

Chief operating officer and executive director Suresh Thirugnanam also sold one million shares or 0.32%, while a substantial shareholder, Wong Siew Hui, disposed of three million shares or a 0.96% stake.

SEEK first became a substantial shareholder in Jobstreet in September 2008 when it acquired 31 million shares or a 9.97% stake in the company.

In a media release yesterday, Chang said SEEK is recognised globally as one of the leading companies in the online employment industry.

They have great experience in building a significant and highly profitable online business and have also developed expertise in investing and contributing to growing businesses in other emerging markets such as China and Brazil, he said.

“Given this, we are looking forward to working closely with SEEK management to continue to grow our business. We are confident SEEK can add significant value, particularly across strategy, marketing and product development,” Chang added.

Commenting on the share acquisition, SEEK’s joint CEO Andrew Bassat said SEEK was impressed by the strong results delivered by Jobstreet since acquiring its initial stake.

“This is particularly so, given the effects of the global financial crisis on employment markets,” he said.

Bassat added that in a rapidly growing regional economy still in the early stages of online migration, SEEK is confident of Jobstreet’s prospects and ability to increase market share.

“We also believe we can make a significant contribution to Jobstreet by providing strategic support and sharing expertise across the operations,” he said.

Jobstreet’s net profit for the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2009 surged to RM6.27 million from RM1.68 million a year earlier. Revenue was marginally higher at RM23.16 million compared with RM22.23 million.

Nevertheless, for the full year, Jobstreet’s net profit fell 18.3% to RM26.8 million from RM32.8 million in 2008, on the back of lower revenue, which fell 9.8% to RM92.3 million from RM102.3 million.


This article appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, March 11, 2010.