51job.com (JOBS) announced its unaudited financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2005. Total revenues increased approximately 30% year-over-year to CNY142.7 million compared with CNY109.9 million for the first quarter of 2004.

Fully diluted earnings per common share were CNY0.16 and fully diluted earnings per ADS were CNY0.32

Net revenues, which reflect total revenues less business taxes and related surcharges, increased to CNY134.4 million in the first quarter of 2005 from CNY104.9 million in the same period last year.

Print advertising revenues for the first quarter of 2005 increased 24.4% to CNY93.7 million (US$11.3 million) compared with CNY75.3 million for the same quarter in 2004. The revenue increase was primarily due to the higher volume of recruitment advertisements placed in Career Post Weekly, which was partially offset by lower promotional prices introduced in some cities and increasing revenue contribution from the Company's lower-priced cities. The estimated number of print advertising pages generated in the first quarter of 2005 increased to 3,107 compared with 2,022 estimated print advertising pages in the same quarter in 2004.

Gross profit for the first quarter of 2005 was CNY65.4 million, representing an increase of 27.7% from CNY51.2 million for the same quarter last year. Gross margin, which is equal to gross profit divided by net revenues, was 48.7% in the first quarter of 2005 compared with 48.9% in the same quarter in 2004.

Operating expenses for the first quarter of 2005 were CNY57.4 million (US$6.9 million) compared with CNY37.5 million for the same period last year. Operating expenses as a percentage of net revenues was 42.7% for the first quarter of 2005 compared with 35.8% in the March 2004 quarter, due primarily to a planned increase in sales and marketing expenditures for the Chinese New Year period in 2005, and higher general and administrative expenses.