Cheezhead Recruiting News and Opinion

On Thursday’s Q4 earnings call Monster.com reported that fourth-quarter profits fell to $28.5 million or $0.24 per share from $45 million or $0.36 per share in the year-ago period. Total revenue fell to $290.7 million from $347.8 million last year.

Fifteen Wall Street analysts expected revenues of $311.59 million.

The job board said that the 16 percent decline in revenue was due to the global economic slowdown that has affected hiring demand worldwide.

Non-GAAP income from continuing operations declined to $32 million or $0.27 per share from $53 million or $0.42 per share last year.

The job board also noted that 44 percent of its revenue came from sources outside of the U.S. For the fourth quarter of 2008, Monster’s newly-acquired ChinaHR site generated $11.1 million of non-GAAP revenue and posted an after-tax loss of $3.7 million, or a $0.03 loss per diluted share.

“During the quarter we operated in a sharply deepening economic recession that significantly impacted demand worldwide for online recruitment services,” CEO Sal Iannuzzi said. “As the quarter progressed, we took swift and decisive action to reduce operating expenses without compromising our strategic investments.”

Total operating expenses for the fourth quarter decreased to $247.88 million from $282.41 million in the year earlier quarter.

For the fiscal 2008, Monster reported net income of $124.79 million or $1.03 per share, compared to $146.39 million or $1.14 per share in the previous year period.

Total revenue for the year-to-date period increased to $1.34 billion from $1.32 billion in the preceding year period.

Monster Worldwide stock closed Thursday at $10.46, down 30 cents on a volume of 2.89 million shares.

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