By Stuart Condie

SYDNEY--Seek raised its dividend and narrowed its annual guidance ranges as the Australian job advertiser's dynamic pricing model helped to offset lower first-half volumes.

The ASX-listed company on Tuesday reported a net profit for the six months through December of 143.5 million Australian dollars, equivalent to about US$91.2 million. That was up from A$29.8 million a year earlier.

Revenue slipped 3.9% to A$536.2 million. Profit fell by 28% to A$77.0 million on an adjusted basis.

Operating expenses were flat at A$312.3 million, which Chief Executive Ian Narev attributed to efficiency gains from the company's recently completed unification of its previously separate platforms.

The average analyst forecast had been for a net profit of A$69.2 million from revenue of A$542.5 million, according to data compiled by Visible Alpha.

The board raised the interim dividend to A$0.24 a share, from A$0.19 a year earlier.

Seek has faced retreating ad volumes over recent years following a Covid-era boom during which companies hired back furloughed workers and even expanded amid government stimulus and rebounding consumer spending.

Volumes in Australia and New Zealand fell by 14%, but higher average yield per ad meant that revenue only fell 4% to A$416 million. Asia paid-ad volumes also fell by 14%, to A$120 million, but average yield rose by 19%.

Volume declines were most pronounced in Hong Kong, Seek said.

Volumes are now relatively stable in Australia and could even rise moderately in Malaysia and some emerging markets, Narev said. New Zealand and Hong Kong are likely to remain weak, he added.

Seek tightened its annual revenue guidance to A$1.06 billion-A$1.10 billion, from A$1.02 billion-A$1.14 billion previously. The midpoint of the guidance range remained unchanged.

It expects earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization of A$440 million-A$470 million, compared with prior guidance of A$430 million-A$500 million.

It anticipated an annual adjusted net profit of A$135 million-A$160 million, compared with A$130 million-A$180 million previously.

Write to Stuart Condie at stuart.condie@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 17, 2025 17:32 ET (22:32 GMT)

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