The tough job market, which is not expected to ease in the near-term, has led analysts to become less optimistic on HRnetGroup's bottom line.
RHB Securities has lowered its FY20-21 profit after tax and minority interest forecast by 10% and 12%.
DBS Group Research is more bearish; it lowered its FY20-21 earnings forecasts by 17%-20%.
“Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, hiring across the globe has slowed down significantly,” RHB Securities analysts Jarick Seet and Lee Cai Ling write in a note dated Aug 13.
“We anticipate 2H20 to be seasonally weaker given the absence of seasonally strong quarter and a drop in professional placements,” DBS Group Research analysts Alfie Yeo and Andy Sim write in an Aug 13 report.
The lower analyst forecasts come after the recruitment company posted a weak set of results in 1H FY20 ended June 30.
HRnetGroup’s earnings tumbled 31.9% y-o-y to $20.9 million from $30.8 million.
Revenue slipped 1% y-o-y to $210.3 million from $212.5 million.
Both RHB and DBS have maintained their “neural” and “hold” recommendations for the stock, respectively.
The brokerages have lowered their target price to 52 cents and 50 cents, respectively, from 61 cents and 63 cents.
As at 3.11 pm, HRnetGroup was flat at 49 cents with 128,000 shares changed hands.
