Net sales rose 4.5% year over year at en Japan Inc. (4849:TYO), a Tokyo-based job board operator and provider of other recruitment services, in the company’s fiscal first quarter ended 30 June to JPY 16.50 billion (USD 114.1 million).

Revenue rose mainly in engage, a digital platform operating on the freemium model that enables firms to create recruitment websites and post job listing, according to the company.

Net sales for engage rose 105.1% year over year to JPY 1.44 billion (USD 10.0 million) due to growth in the number of job-seeker applications. The number of accounts rose 22% year over year to 550,000. Paid job listings rose to 113,000 from 56,000 in the first quarter of last year. More than 100,000 new job seekers registered each month.

En Japan operates job boards and provides permanent recruitment as well as training, recruitment consulting and aptitude test development. Examples of its job boards include Ambi, a recruitment site for those in their 20s, and Engineers Hub, a recruitment site for web engineers. The firm has several other brands.

The company operates IT temporary staffing firm Focus in India and the Vietnamworks job board in Vietnam.

Guidance

En Japan forecast sales of JPY 73.0 billion (USD 509.7 million) in the current fiscal year.

Share price

Shares in en Japan closed up 0.9% to JPY 2,677 (USD 18.69) on Wednesday in Tokyo; shares were 5.51% below their 52-week low, according to FT.com.