Monster Worldwide Sales Decline

Monster Worldwide Inc. on Thursday said its sales declined 9.2% in the fourth quarter, falling short of analysts' estimates, though adjusted profit rose in line with company expectations.

The company's outlook for the current quarter was also below analysts' expectations. Monster said it anticipates earnings for the current quarter in the range of 6 cents to 10 cents on an adjusted basis. Analysts had projected 13 cents.

The job-search website operator has put a focus on its core online-recruitment platform in recent quarters. The company sold its remaining stake in JobKorea for about $85 million. The results for the fourth quarter include the impact of the sale, which the company said added 50 cents a share to its earnings for the period.

Over all, Monster reported a profit of $56.1 million, or 62 cents a share, compared with a prior-year loss of $289.7 million, or $3.31 a share. Excluding one-time items, such as proceeds from the JobKorea stake sale and a $325.8 million goodwill charge in the year-ago period, earnings were 12 cents a share, up from a nickel a year ago.

The company had previously forecast per-share earnings in a range of 10 cents to 14 cents on an adjusted basis.

Revenue slipped 9.2% to $159.2 million. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had expected revenue of $167 million.

Operating expenses, adjusted to exclude the goodwill charge and other items, declined 12%.

Shares in the company, down 33% in the past three months, were inactive in premarket trading.

Monster also said Thursday it would integrate its Monster Social Job Ads recruitment tool on Facebook, allowing employers to advertise job openings to Facebook users. The company already uses the tool on Twitter, where it said its customers had seen 90 million impressions on the ads.

Write to Joshua Jamerson at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 11, 2016 09:35 ET (14:35 GMT)

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