Recruit Holdings Co. Ltd. reported revenue rose 2.7% year over year in constant currency to ¥827.7 billion (US$6.24 billion) in its fiscal fourth quarter ended March 31. However, the Tokyo-based global staffing firm reported revenue fell in its HR technology segment — which includes jobs websites Indeed and Glassdoor — when measured in US dollars. The decrease was 6.7%.
The HR technology segment decline continued in April, with revenue falling 12% year over year on a US dollar basis during the month.
Recruit reported total US job openings on Indeed fell 13% year over year in the fourth quarter while paid jobs ads were down by approximately 30%. However, job seeker traffic increased.
Looking at just US revenue for the HR technology segment, it was down 10.1% in the fourth quarter on a US dollar basis. Outside the US, revenue rose 2.4%.
In its staffing business, Recruit reported Japanese staffing revenue rose while revenue elsewhere fell.
Revenue in “Europe, US and Australia” actually rose by 6.0% year over year to ¥205.1 billion (US$1.55 billion). However, Recruit noted revenue in this segment decreased 3.3% when measured on a constant currency basis. The company reported the uncertain economic outlook led to slower growth.
Recruit’s staffing brands include Staffmark Group and The CSI Cos. Inc. in the US, Chandler Macleod Group Ltd in Australia and RGF Staffing in Europe.
In its Japanese staffing operations, the company reported revenue rose 14.0% year over year to ¥178.4 billion (US$1.35 billion).
Recruit’s third operating unit, matching and solutions, saw revenue rise by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. Revenue in the HR solutions portion of this segment rose by 11.6%. Other portions of the segment include nonstaffing publishing operations.
HR solutions include online job matching services such as Rikunabi in Japan for new graduates.
Guidance
Recruit forecast first-quarter revenue to be down between 1.6% and 5.1% year over year. It expects the size of its HR matching market to contract because of the deteriorating economic environment in the US and Europe. However, the company is not providing full-year guidance at this time because of difficulty predicting how much the market could shrink.
First-quarter revenue in the HR technology segment is expected to be down between 13.5% and 17.5% on a US dollar basis.
HR solutions revenue is expected to be up 6% year over year in the first quarter.
Staffing revenue in Europe, US and Australia is expected to fall 8% year over year. On the other hand, Japanese staffing revenue is expected to increase by 12% year over year.
Share price and market cap
Shares in Recruit closed up 0.49% today in Tokyo to ¥3,876 (US$28.55); they were 18.03% above their 52-week low, according to FT.com. The company had a market cap of ¥6.54 trillion (US$48.17 billion).