JobStreet makes sterling Mesdaq debut

ONLINE recruitment company JobStreet Corp Bhd made a sterling debut on Bursa Malaysiaís Mesdaq market yesterday, with its stock opening at 85 sen over the initial offer price of 54 sen.

The counter reached an intra-day high of RM1.05 before ending the day at 99.5 sen on volume of 26.4 million shares.

Chairman Datuk Ali Abdul Kadir said the board was happy with the first-day performance of the companyís shares.

ìOur unique business model has stirred strong institutional interest for our company,î he said at the listing of JobStreet shares on Bursa Malaysia yesterday. ìWe are more than just an information technology company; we are also a services company.î

Ali said the strong support for JobStreet shares was also due to the companyís good financial results in the nine months ended Sept 30.

For the period under review, JobStreet posted an after-tax profit of RM6.7mil on revenue of RM25.4mil, compared with an after-tax profit of RM1.9mil on revenue of RM13.8mil in the corresponding nine months last year.

Also present at the listing ceremony were JobStreetís board of directors and representatives from the companyís original venture capital investors: Walden International, Sumitomo and Intelligent Capital.

Ali said JobStreet had helped 15,000 companies improve their operations through the recruitment of good employees. ìMore importantly, we are serving many more job seekers; helping them find a better job, which will obviously enhance the quality of their lives.î

JobStreet chief executive officer Mark Chang said the company was pleased with the growth and higher profitability it had achieved this year.

ìThese results reflect that our investments overseas have begun to deliver solid profits and increased acceptance of online recruitment and our other service offerings,î he said.

JobStreet vice-president (finance) Greg C. Poarch said more than 2,000 job seekers from Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines and India signed up on JobStreet.comís website each day.

ìWe are forecasting more job seekers will sign up, as we expect the improving economic conditions to create more employment opportunities,î he said.