Just days after McClatchy was warned by the NYSE that the publishing company may be de-listed after their total market cap fell below $75 million for 30 consecutive trading days, McClatchy reported more bad news to their investors by disclosing $37.7 million ($0.45 per share) losses in the first quarter, compared to last year’s $993,000 loss.
On an adjusted basis, the company’s loss was $22.9 million, or $0.28 per share, missing Reuters analysts’ estimates of $0.05 to $0.16 per share.
McClatchy reported that digital advertising revenues decreased 4.7 percent in Q1, largely due to negative employment advertising. The job ads segment as a whole was down 63 percent. Print help-wanted revenues were down 67.6 percent, while online was down 55.8 percent.
McClatchy owns 14.4 percent of CareerBuilder.
The job board’s other owners, including Gannett, Tribune, and Microsoft, have all either posted large Q1 losses or have been forced to restructure their debts.
Gannett, which owns a 50.8 percent controlling interest in CareerBuilder, reported a 60 percent drop in profits for Q1. Publishing advertising revenue dropped by 34 percent to $723 million, hobbled by a 62 percent decline in employment classified ads.
Microsoft, which owns 4 percent of the job board, just reported its first year-on-year fall in revenue in its 23-year history, with profits plunging 32 percent.
And last December, right after CareerBuilder reportedly laid off around 400 people, the Tribune Company, which owns 30.8 percent of the job board, filed for bankruptcy protection.
So what does all this mean for CareerBuilder? Do these numbers portend more doom and gloom? Last month CareerBuilder announced company-wide salary cuts in order to avoid more layoffs, but with all of their owners’ profits on the decline, terminations may once again be unavoidable.
During a March conference with media analysts, CareerBuilder CEO Matt Ferguson said that client contracts are becoming shorter in nature and smaller in number and that revenue growth in North America has been crippled by the economy. Still, he remains optimistic.
““When I look at it if people are optimistic that the labor market could stabilize this summer, then we could see some growth in our business in the late fall — certainly, as you go into 2010,” Ferguson said.
Although there has been some recent evidence that the economy may be strengthening, given these most recent Q1 losses, it’s doubtful we’ve seen the last of the layoffs and restructuring plans at the major job boards. These last few months have shown that when it comes to the recruitment industry, anything is possible. Considering the recent abrupt layoffs at TheLadders, a possible bid for Hotjobs firing up the market, and Monster Q1 profits disclosures just around the corner, the biggest surprises may be yet to come.
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April 24th, 2009 at 1:38 pm
The first one you will see closing shop is Monster – wait until our Q1 results on apr 30th – blood bath. Hot jobs is shutting down. I have heard CB has really entered the RPO business and full spectrum recruiting -similarly, they have no debt and operate independently of their owners. Looks like you are looking for a story where their isn’t one – how about you look at jobbing or theladders
April 24th, 2009 at 5:00 pm
what are you talking about Monster closing shop? granted sales may be down at this company, they are still improving on a high level year after year on an international level, only increasing the amount of cash reserves. This company will be around for quite some time. That is one of the good parts about not being tied to the newspapers. I will continue to use Monster for all hiring.
April 24th, 2009 at 8:40 pm
I hate to agree with MonsterLover, but it’s true. Monster does have a international presence as a huge advantage, but the DB they call the Iannuzziator has taken down an empire…Sal has destroyed the brand and stole his employee’s soul…Advantage CB because of the chimps!!!
April 24th, 2009 at 9:48 pm
Good point, Bill.
Closing shop? That’s not true at all. Have you taken a look at the balance sheet? They’ve got very little debt and hundreds of millions of cash in the bank. The company actually sees this time as a chance to grow market share. Times certainly are tough, and the company has said it will take a loss in Q1, but this isn’t unexpected. Like them or not, they are well run and are poised to grow fast when this thing turns around. Remember the difference here – Careerbuilder is built on Newspapers and Newspaper money – a dying industry. Monster is stand alone and relies a lot on organic traffic. One thing that has interested me all along here is the fact that they have not laid anyone off yet. This late in the recession game, it really says one thing – that the company was running pretty lean to begin with. Good balance sheet, weathering tough times and the analysts like it. Financials are pretty transparent and the market likes MWW.
Cheers.
April 27th, 2009 at 3:34 pm
What will hurt CareerBuilder the most is Monster calling old or current clients and handing out 75% discounts. My Monster rep hasn’t stopped calling me over the last few months leading up to my contract end date in June.The voicemails all consist of “huge savings”, “limited time only”, and “discounts galore”. It makes me very suspisouis of what type of product I’m getting for 75% off.
April 28th, 2009 at 9:43 am
Your Monster rep is NOT giving you 75% off unless you were overpaying by 50% which I doubt. Maybe if you called your rep back they would not leave so many messages, I never understand the ‘hiding’ mentality. Tell them you are not interested if you don’t want them calling or ask them to kindly call at a predetermined time.
Monster is however getting more aggressive in selling their services and products. They have media products that CB does not have and are going after the medium size business that CB had done much better attracting than Monster. The new site design and investment in the brand actually leave them in a great position in my mind. Yes they are definitely losing revenue BUT if they can gain market share and customer loyalty they will be poised to retake the US market for CB. This market is about survival (in any industry) and CB is teetering as their owners struggle to survive.
April 28th, 2009 at 12:49 pm
‘Your Monster rep is NOT giving you 75% off unless you were overpaying by 50% which I doubt. Maybe if you called your rep back they would not leave so many messages, I never understand the ‘hiding’ mentality. Tell them you are not interested if you don’t want them calling or ask them to kindly call at a predetermined time.
Monster is however getting more aggressive in selling their services and products. They have media products that CB does not have and are going after the medium size business that CB had done much better attracting than Monster. The new site design and investment in the brand actually leave them in a great position in my mind. Yes they are definitely losing revenue BUT if they can gain market share and customer loyalty they will be poised to retake the US market for CB. This market is about survival (in any industry) and CB is teetering as their owners struggle to survive.”
This guy works for Monster. I’m 99% sure. The site design hasn’t helped Monster at all. They are struggling more than ever and 75+% discounts are common. With no traffic you have to give those things away.
April 28th, 2009 at 4:52 pm
“You are NOT getting 75%”
Yes, my monster rep has offered me 75% off, actually a couple of times. I’m a partner for a staffing firm based out of Atlanta, we’ve been in business for more 15 years. We specialize in IT and Engineering with heavy focus in the Oil and Gas Industry. Well the Oil Patch is a bit dry, we’re lucky enough to have a diversified client base that has given us more opportunity for revenue growth. I’ve been in this business a long time and have had 20 different monster reps over the years and the quality has one downhill and fast. We actually hired our rep from two or three reps ago.
Secondly, I’ve told my monster rep numerous times that we need to push discussions back a little and that I would email him when we’re ready. Is that so hard to understand? Anything else you’d like to tell me about my business. I’ll assume you’re a monster rep yourself. I’d do yourself a favor and take a class put on by my CareerBuilder rep or my LinkedIn team. My monster rep just doesn’t get it and I’ve taking the time to help him understand my business. Currently, he’s offered double the postings from last year for the same price. I don’t want postings! I want the recruiting teams in our offices to be more effective and efficient and job postings aren’t the answer. We need to be out ahead of our clients in the marketplace doing the things they can’t or aren’t. We’ve spent hours with our CareerBuilder person and his manager about new offerings that go beyond the post and pray model. We plan right now to invest the bulk of our spend with our SEO team and CareerBuilder and allow them to manager portions of our talent funnel and marketing.
Monster has missed the boat this year. The job market is so flooded, feel free to pedal job adds to your other clients but as a recruiting firm we need to be aggressive in finding the folks our clients cant and I believe you do that through a strong media presence. We may still buy monster resume database especially when it’s so cheap right now.
April 29th, 2009 at 3:07 pm
Thank god that media is now one of Monsters strong points. You should look into it!!!
April 29th, 2009 at 3:08 pm
Well have you looked into the new media products that Monster has to offer? You should!!!
April 29th, 2009 at 4:28 pm
bill -
you sound like a woman. you talk too much. go do your job and get back to work.
April 29th, 2009 at 4:41 pm
When monster sells postings at 75% off you’re getting what you pay for. Monster is only now investing in technologies that CB has had for years. A new site design is not going to change the results users get from monster’s products. You can put a fresh coat of paint on a 96′ Kia, but it still sucks.
April 29th, 2009 at 4:46 pm
Bill – I agree, job postings have very little value. If you want to try it, I’d be happy to provide you with a free account to view passive and active candidates that match your positions across the 1200 sites we power…including oil and gas job specific verticals . I can set up a free account for you and your colleagues if you’re interested. ihinz at realmatch.com
Ian
April 29th, 2009 at 8:49 pm
You are NOT getting 75% off, that would never get approved by any manager.
If your rep is trying to push more postings and you have told him recruitment is down then get a new rep, that is stupid.
CB has also declared war on all the agencies, so Hodes reps and the like (at least the smart ones) are telling their clients to move all or most of the spend to Monster to keep the revenue coming through the agency. It may have saved dollars short term but is a loser long term unless Monster decides to do the same and push the agencies out. We will see.
April 30th, 2009 at 5:47 pm
75%? Sure thing. The fact of the matter is hiring has slowed to a crawl. Bill you have to understand that as sales people they get lied to ALL THE TIME!! When I worked for monster, i would have companies tell me they were not hiring just to get me off the phone…all while I was on CB and HJ looking at their postings. I feel your pain on it, but I would suggest simply telling him you want to look at job posting alternatives…trust me…HE WILL JUMP OUT OF HIS CHAIR. haha. Good luck to you and your firm Bill.
Monsterlover…HAHAHA…I am on the Q1 call. I really, really hope you don’t work in the stock market. Nice try!
April 30th, 2009 at 8:25 pm
Monster rev down %31… told you all… let the cost cutting begin.. again