JobStreet plans 75pc dividend policy

KUALA LUMPUR: JobStreet Corp Bhd, Southeast
Asia’s largest online employment company, plans to distribute 75 per
cent of its net profit annually beginning financial year ending December
31 2013.



Last year, owners of the jobseeker database paid out 35 per cent of its net earnings to shareholders.


For the first quarter ended March 31 2013, Job-Street’s net profit
surged 48 per cent to RM15.35 million from RM10.36 million a year ago
while revenue rose to RM43.17 million from RM37.86 million previously.


In a statement to Bursa Malaysia, JobStreet said the dividend policy is to ensure sustainable yields to shareholders.


The company’s intention to distribute more of its net earnings comes
at a time when investor interest in the stock appears to have risen.






Year-to-date, the stock has risen by 65.91 per cent, thumping the gains made by the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI.


JobStreets’ shares closed RM3.65 a share last week.


Singapore’s Hwang DBS Vickers Research earlier this month advised
its clients to buy Job-Street shares and has placed a “buy” call on the
shares, with a RM4.85 target price.


In late December, JobStreet cancelled the entire 6.32 million of its
treasury shares, which had a value of more than RM13 million at the
time.


Subsequently, after axing the treasury shares, which are the
company’s own shares bought from the open market, JobStreet had gone
back and bought more of its shares from the market.


As at May 3 2013, JobStreet has 406,800 shares in its treasury.


The buyback added fuel to fire that a potential corporate exercise
was in the works, along talks that JobStreet’s single largest
shareholder, SEEK Ltd, has plans of its own.


SEEK, which has slowly built up its stake to now own more than 22
per cent of JobStreet, is listed on the Australian Stock Exchange.