51job's Net Profit Down 30.8% in Q1

China's Nasdaq-listed online human resource service provider 51job Inc. (JOBS) saw its first quarter net profit fall 30.8 percent year-on-year to $3.2 million, the company reported Tuesday.

The company said the decline is mainly due to losses from foreign currency conversion as a result of the appreciation of the Renminbi against the U.S. dollar.

The company's revenue for the first quarter of 2008 reached $33.7 million, up 17.9 percent year-on-year, and exceeding previous expectations. It had previously expected its revenue for the quarter to sit between $30.2 million and $31.5 million.

However, the company said its revenue in the second would not increase rapidly, as the recent earthquake in Sichuan Province may impact its advertisement operations in some cities. The company's revenue target for the second quarter of this year is $32.1 million to $34.2 million.

According to the report, the company's revenue mainly came from its print media, called 51job Weekly. The company uses the magazine to post recruitment advertisements for its members, which also appear on its Web site, 51job.com. The magazine is currently distributed in 26 Chinese cities.

The company's financial report indicated that advertisement revenue from its 51job Weekly magazine reached $17.5 million in Q1, up 7.8 percent year-on-year. Revenue from online recruitment services for Q1 was $11.2 million, representing a 27.4 percent increase year-on-year.

In a previous interview, 51job's PR manager told Interfax that the company's magazine drives its revenue because it is the preferred format in most second- and third-tier Chinese cities.

The company also announced that its co-founder and vice president Norman Liu will be leaving the company at the end of May.