expansion map

Thursday June 19, 2008
Indochina on JobStreet’s expansion map
By YVONNE TAN


KUALA LUMPUR: Online recruiting company JobStreet Corp Bhd expects to penetrate the Indochina market in a year, says chief executive officer Mark Chang.

Currently, it already has a presence in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, Bangladesh, India, Japan and Hong Kong.

“We will start our (Indochina) operations on our own or via acquisitions,” Chang said after the company AGM yesterday.

“The employment trend is usually in line with the economy. If there is a slowdown in the economy, demand for employment will go down. And it is during such slowdowns that we pursue merger and acquisition opportunities.”

With RM59.6mil in its coffers and a healthy profit margin exceeding 40% as at March 31, Chang said the company was in a “good position” to weather a slowdown.

“Nevertheless, if it is a significant economic slowdown, there will be an impact on our earnings. It is too early to say,” he said.

For the first quarter ended March 31, the company made a net profit of RM10.45mil, or 3.40 sen a share, against RM5.96mil, or 1.96 sen a share, in the previous corresponding period.

Meanwhile, chief financial officer Greg C. Poarch told StarBiz the company had allocated up to RM2mil in capital expenditure this year.

He said the company would remain prudent in the wake of the challenging business environment. “Furthermore, in a (online) business like ours, there is no need for heavy investments.”

Poarch also said JobStreet currently enjoyed about 80% share of the Malaysian online recruiting market.