Australia's SEEK slips after Macquarie cuts PT, earnings view

SEEK

17/07/2024 05:48

** Shares of SEEK  SEK.AX  fall as much as 2% to A$21.08
    ** Analysts at Macquarie cut PT for the employment
marketplace provider to A$23 from A$29 and downgrades stock to
"neutral" rating from "outperform"
    ** Lowers earnings estimate for FY24, FY25, FY26 and FY27 by
11%, 26%, 26% and 27%, respectively
    ** Brokerage notes SEEK Job Ad Index is down 17% for the 6
months to June 2024 and if it remains at current levels through
the rest of FY25, it would imply 8% Y/Y fall
    ** Forecast FY25 job ads to be down 6% assuming the linear
correlation with the Reserve Bank of Australia unemployment rate
holds
    ** Expects FY24 pro-forma EBITDA of A$475 mln, down 7% from
previous estimate due to softer job ads and the sale of Latin
American businesses
    ** Stock posts its biggest intraday pct fall since July 4
    ** Stock has fallen 19.5% this year, as of last close


($1 = 58.3200 Philippine pesos)

 (Reporting by Sneha Kumar in Bengaluru)
 ((Sneha.Kumar@thomsonreuters.com;))