Chinese online recruitment website 51job.com (JOBS) announced unaudited financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2006.
Total revenues for the first quarter ended March 31, 2006 were CNY172.5 million, an increase of 20.9% from CNY142.7 million for the same quarter in 2005.
Print advertising revenues for the first quarter of 2006 increased 13.8% to CNY106.7 million compared with CNY93.7 million in the first quarter of 2005.
The increase was primarily due to a decrease in discounts we offered for recruitment advertisements placed in 51job Weekly in some cities and increases in prices in certain markets. The estimated number of print advertising pages generated in the first quarter of 2006 was 3,043 compared with 3,107 pages in the same quarter in 2005.
Online recruitment services revenues for the first quarter of 2006 were CNY48.5 million, representing a 52.6% growth from CNY31.8 million for the same quarter last year. The increase was principally attributable to a larger number of unique employers using the company's online recruitment services, which increased to 38,047 in the first quarter of 2006 from 25,628 in the same period last year.
Executive search revenues for the first quarter of 2006 decreased 27.2% to CNY5.1 million from CNY6.9 million in the same quarter last year. For the first quarter of 2006, other human resource related revenues grew 20.0% to CNY12.3 million from CNY10.3 million in the first quarter last year mainly as a result of increased demand for corporate training and business process outsourcing services.
Gross profit for the first quarter of 2006 was CNY90.1 million, representing an increase of 37.7% from CNY65.4 million for the same quarter last year.
Gross margin, which is calculated by dividing gross profit by net revenues, increased to 55.3% in the first quarter of 2006 compared with 48.7% in first quarter of 2005 due to economies of scale and improved operating efficiencies.
Operating expenses for the first quarter of 2006 were CNY56.1 million compared with CNY57.4 million for the same period last year. Operating expenses as a percentage of net revenues decreased to 34.4% for the first quarter of 2006 compared with 42.7% in the first quarter of 2005.
Income from operations for the first quarter of 2006 grew significantly to CNY34.0 million from CNY8.1 million for the same period last year.
As of March 31, 2006, the company's cash balance was CNY785.8 million compared with CNY830.6 million at year-end 2005. The decrease in cash was primarily the result of installment payments related to the company's purchase of a new office complex in Shanghai's Zhangjiang High Technology Park. In the first quarter of 2006, the company did not repurchase any ADSs in the open market under a stock repurchase program authorized by its shareholders in May 2005.
