2011 Bookings of $1.1 Billion, Increased 16% Year over Year; Global Careers Bookings Increased 18% Year over Year

Sal Iannuzzi, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Monster Worldwide, said, “In 2011, our Global Careers bookings increased 18% year over year despite a more challenging economic environment in the latter half. We also significantly improved profitability, with an operating margin of 7% in 2011 compared to approximately break-even in 2010, and had $250 million in cash and cash equivalents at year-end. Our focus in 2012 will be to further leverage our product leadership and global platform, and increase customer adoption. At the same time, we are taking difficult but necessary steps to implement cost savings initiatives that will provide us the flexibility to enhance our marketing and sales efforts to continue to improve long-term growth prospects and profitability. Finally, we will continue to return capital to our shareholders through executing on our $250 million share repurchase program. We are confident that with the successful execution of our strategies, we can drive results for our shareholders and our customers alike.”

“Innovation continues to be fundamental to our growth strategy as demonstrated by our differentiated product portfolio and solutions. SeeMore™, the market’s first cloud-based semantic search and analytics platform for managing companies’ resume databases, is gaining significant traction with our customers, and we continue to enhance the features and functionalities of BeKnown™, our professional networking application on Facebook. These offerings, combined with our portfolio of advanced recruitment products, position Monster well for future growth,” continued Iannuzzi.

Business Highlights

• In 2011, Monster’s differentiated product offerings, including Recruitment Media/Career Ad Network, Power Resume Search and SeeMore™, have gained significant traction with the Company’s Global Careers customers.
• BeKnown™, Monster’s professional networking application on Facebook, was launched in July 2011 and is now available in 49 countries and 19 languages. Since its launch, Monster has introduced significant features, including College Pages and Jobs Tab, which are meeting the evolving networking needs of today’s professionals and the employers that want to connect with Facebook’s audience.

Fourth Quarter Results

Bookings were $314 million. This compares to $316 million in the fourth quarter 2010 after excluding $14 million of bookings related to the decision to no longer engage in a portion of the Internet Advertising & Fees (IAF) segment. Global Careers bookings increased 1% compared to the fourth quarter 2010. On a year over year basis, currency translation had a $1.4 million negative impact on bookings in the fourth quarter 2011. Historical data on bookings for prior quarters is available in the Company’s supplemental financial information.

Revenue was $250 million. This compares to fourth quarter 2010 GAAP revenue of $255 million, which included $12 million of revenue from the arbitrage lead generation activity, as described below. Excluding this portion of the IAF business from fourth quarter 2010 results, revenue increased 2% from $246 million on a non-GAAP basis. On a year over year basis, currency translation had a $1.1 million negative impact on revenue in the fourth quarter 2011.

Global Careers revenue was $229 million. This compares to fourth quarter 2010 GAAP Global Careers revenue of $223 million. On a non-GAAP basis, Global Careers revenue increased 1%, compared to fourth quarter 2010 Global Careers revenue of $226 million. Fourth quarter 2010 non-GAAP Global Careers revenue excludes a $3.3 million purchase accounting adjustment related to the HotJobs acquisition.

Careers-North America revenue was $119 million, a decrease of 5% compared to non-GAAP Careers-North America revenue of $124 million in the fourth quarter 2010. Careers-International revenue grew 8% to $110 million compared with $102 million in the prior year period.

IAF revenue was $21 million, a decrease of 34% compared to $32 million in the fourth quarter 2010. As previously disclosed, the Company decided to no longer engage in arbitrage lead generation activity as ofJuly 1, 2011 due to the lack of profitability and in light of new regulations applicable to customers in the for-profit education market. Excluding $12 million of arbitrage lead generation activity in the fourth quarter 2010, IAF revenue was essentially flat on a year over year basis.

Consolidated GAAP operating expenses of $233 million compares to $253 million in the fourth quarter 2010. Net Income for the fourth quarter was $11 million, or $0.09 per share. This compares to a net income of $501 thousand, or break-even on a per share basis, in the prior year period.

Net Income for the quarter included a pre-tax restructuring charge of $3.2 million, or $0.02 per share net of tax, which consists of facility and severance charges primarily associated with the decision to no longer engage in a portion of the IAF segment. Pro-forma items are described in the “Notes Regarding the Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures” and are reconciled to the GAAP measure in the accompanying tables.

Non-GAAP Net Income of $13 million, or $0.11 per share, compares to $7.1 million, or $0.06 per share in the fourth quarter 2010. The decision to no longer engage in the arbitrage lead generation activity had no impact on the Company’s net income or earnings per share. Non-GAAP operating expenses were $230 million or a 2% year over year decrease.

Cash and cash equivalents were $250 million as of December 31, 2011 compared to $163 million as ofDecember 31, 2010. Net operating cash flow was $25 million in the quarter and $150 million for the full year. Deferred revenue as of December 31, 2011 was $380 million compared to $376 million as of December 31, 2010.

Full Year Results

Monster Worldwide reported total revenue on a GAAP basis of $1,040 million for the twelve months endedDecember 31, 2011, which included $22 million of revenue from the arbitrage lead generation activity generated during the first six months 2011. This compares to 2010 GAAP revenue of $914 million, which included $51 million of revenue from the arbitrage lead generation activity. Excluding arbitrage lead generation activity from both 2011 and 2010 results, revenue increased 18% year over year on a non-GAAP basis.

Monster Careers revenue increased 19% to $930 million compared with $783 million in the 2010 period. Internet Advertising & Fees reported revenue of $110 million compared to $131 million in the same period a year ago, both of which include revenue derived from the arbitrage lead generation activity as described above.

The Company reported GAAP earnings of $54 million, or $0.43 per diluted share, compared to a GAAP loss of$32 million, or $0.27 loss per share, in the prior period. On a non-GAAP basis, the Company reported earnings of $46 million, or $0.37 per diluted share, compared to a loss of $9 million, or $0.07 loss per share in 2010.

Credit: www.monster.com