Australian job board Seek (ASX: SEK) yesterday reported revenue from continuing operations grew 59% on a reported and constant currency basis.

In FY 2021, Seek announced the creation of the Seek Growth Fund which will operate autonomously, with a focus on being an investor and business builder with greater access to third party capital. Additionally, during FY2021 Seek sold 37.6% of the equity of Zhaopin, the results of which have been deconsolidated from 30 April 2021.

For statutory reporting purposes, the two events require that Seek’s results are presented on a Continuing Operations basis.

For continuing operations, Seek achieved revenue growth of 59% driven by improving market conditions and strong depth adoption across both Seek ANZ and Seek Asia.

EBITDA growth of 83% was driven by higher revenue whilst accelerating investment with major projects proceeding to plan. Profit (excluding significant items) grew by 147%, benefitting from higher EBITDA, partially offset by inaugural Seek Growth Fund management fees of approximately AUD 9 million (USD 6.4 million).

For discontinued operations, profit (excluding significant items) declined by 47%, reflective of the fact that Zhaopin results are only included in the comparative period.

Revenue for continuing operations was broken down as follows.

Seek ANZ revenue growth driven by record ad volumes and strong depth adoption increasing yields. In Seek Asia, revenue growth driven by higher ad volumes across all markets. In Latin America, the group reported weak results in Catho (based in Brazil) with Covid-19 continuing to have a significant economic impact, however it saw recovery continue at OCC.

Seek CEO and Managing Director Ian Narev said, “Market conditions across our ANZ and Asia businesses were favourable for revenue growth. Businesses continued to rehire following Covid-related cuts, and in many cases restarted investment. While candidate activity on our sites remained high, application rates were weaker, which in turn drove greater depth adoption. Previous investments, in particular the flexibility of our new ANZ contract and pricing model, positioned us well to capture these opportunities.”

“ANZ yield grew, due particularly to a significant increase in premium and stand-out ads,” Narev said. “Yield in Asia fell slightly, a function of higher volume commitments from hirers that led to higher volume-linked discounts. The impact was lessened by increased adoption of depth products. The strength of our revenue enabled us to accelerate some investment. We increased planned expenditure in marketing, especially in Asia, and saw the benefits of that spend quickly.”

“Similar revenue trends occurred in Mexico, enabling OCC to grow revenue and EBITDA,” Narev added. “Market conditions in Brazil were more difficult, and we are still experimenting with significant changes to the Catho business model. While  our minority investment in JobKorea is in its very early days, performance to date has well exceeded our investment case.”

“Zhaopin Online revenue grew 9%, amid significant ongoing Covid restrictions. Adjacent Services Revenue decreased 9%. Excluding Business Process Outsourcing, Adjacent Services Revenue increased 9% driven by Campus & Training. Competition remains intense, requiring high levels of product and marketing investment. EBITDA fell 50%,” Narev said.

For its Seek Growth Fund, the group said portfolio value increased 17% to AUD 1.73 billion (USD 1.23 billion).

Looking ahead to FY 2022, Seek said revenue is expected to be in the range of AUD 1.05 billion to AUD 1.10 billion (USD 749.1 million to USD 785.1 million). EBITDA is forecasted to be in the range of AUD 490 million to AUD 515 million (USD 349.8 million to USD 367.6 million). Net Profit After Tax is expected to be in the range of AUD 230 million to AUD 250 million (USD 164.2 million to USD 178.4 million).

For the Seek Growth Fund, Seek’s share of Net Profit After Tax is forecasted to be in the range of AUD 10 million to AUD 20 million (USD 7.1 million to 14.2 million) for FY 2022.

Shares in Seek closed at AUD 29.47 (USD 21.03), up 6.08% on the day and 18.10% above the 52-week low of AUD 24.95 (USD 17.81) set on 26 February 26 2021. The company has a market cap of AUD 9.83 billion (USD 7.01 billion).