Australia job board Seek (ASX: SEK) reported revenue yesterday of AUD 819.9 million (USD 649.6 million) for the six months ended 31 December 2020, a fall of 4% in constant currency when compared to the previous year.

The group said its results are broadly in line with the previous corresponding period despite Covid-19 challenges.

Revenue was down across every region.

Online Education Services remained resilient and reported a revenue increase of 38% in constant currency.

The group also made a number of major announcements yesterday including its plan to cut its stake in Chinese career platform Zhaopin and the stepping down of its CEO Andrew Bassat.

Net profit declined mainly due to increased depreciation and amortisation arising from investment in product & technology, increased non-controlling interest reflecting higher Zhaopin and OES profits, and was partly offset by decreased net interest costs as a result of lower funding rates.

Revenue was broken down as follows.

The group said key markets continued to recover from Covid-19.

ANZ s job ad volumes continued to recover from Covid-19 lows (led by SMEs), whilst increased revenue from depth products helped to provide some offset.

In Seek Asia, Covid-19 impacted financial results with the rate of economic recovery variable across key markets.

In Latin America, financial results were weak due to ongoing Covid-19 impacts and operational challenges.

Zhaopin revenue declined due to Covid-19 impacts while within Online Education Services Covid-19 increased the demand for online education leading to strong financial results. Early Stage Ventures saw strong growth in revenue across the portfolio of consolidated ESVs (Sidekicker and JobAdder), benefitting from increased migration to online platforms while continuing to scale up.

Seek and other Zhaopin shareholders are in advanced discussions with a consortium looking to acquire an ownership interest in Zhaopin. The consortium is led by Primavera Capital Group, a China-based global investment firm, which will become Zhaopin’s largest shareholder.

The transaction valuation will be in the order of AUD 2.2 billion (100% implied Equity Value) (USD 1.74 billion). If the proposed transaction is completed, it is expected that Seek would reduce its stake to 23.5% from 61.1%.

It added that none of the investors will hold a controlling interest.

Seek said the benefits of the transaction include the ability to realise a strong financial return, rebalance Seek’s portfolio exposure, and creates capital management flexibility. For Zhaopin, it would create a new ownership structure to support long-term growth strategy.

Seek said there is no certainty that these advanced discussions will result in a transaction and that it will update the market as is appropriate.

Last September, there was media speculation over corporate activity involving Zhaopin. At the time, Seek said Zhaopin and its shareholders are holding discussions with a number of parties to assess whether the introduction of new investors could better support Zhaopin’s long term growth aspirations.

Seek also announced yesterday that Andrew Bassat will step down as managing director and CEO of Seek and will be succeeded by Ian Narev, effective 1 July 2021. Narev is currently Seek's COO and CEO of AP&A.

Bassat will transition to a new full-time role of Executive Chairman and CEO of Seek Investments and remain a Director of Seek.

The group also said it was targeting greater independence for AP&A and Investments.

“The Board believes Seek Asia Pacific & Americas and SEEK Investments can benefit from a greater degree of independence and focus, and is in a unique position to have two experienced executives lead its operating business and its investment arm,” the group stated.

Shares in Seek closed yesterday at AUD 28.19 (USD 22.35), down 7.0% on the day. The company has a market cap of AUD 9.17 billion (USD 7.27 billion).