UPDATE 1-51job Q4 revenue falls, sees weak Q1
* Q4 adj profit $0.04/ADS
* Revenue falls 8 pct to $28.8 mln
* Sees Q1 adj profit breakeven to $0.03/ADS * Sees Q1 revenue of $25.7 mln to $27.1 mln
March 3 (Reuters) - China's 51job Inc (JOBS.O) posted an 8 percent drop in fourth-quarter revenue as several of its clients cut back on hiring, and it forecast a sequentially lower first-quarter revenue.
"Hiring activity slowed materially in the fourth quarter as many corporate customers scaled back their recruitment efforts and cut spending in the face of worsening global economic conditions," 51job Chief Executive Rick Yan said in a statement.
51job, which publishes a weekly newspaper and runs a namesake jobs web site, posted a net income of 4 cents per American Depository Share for the quarter. Excluding items, it earned 7 cents per ADS.
The global financial crisis has sent Chinese growth tumbling to below 8 percent, a level widely regarded as a minimum for China to create enough jobs for those entering the workforce.
"The current market sentiment among employers in China continues to be highly cautious and we believe it will remain so throughout 2009 as companies navigate through these unprecedented and challenging times," CEO Yan said.
Shares of the company closed at $6.74 Tuesday on Nasdaq.
For the alerts, please double click [ID:nWNAB9761] (Reporting by Arup Roychoudhury in Bangalore; Editing by Deepak Kannan)
