Jobs advertiser Seek Ltd has reaffirmed its full-year profit guidance in the backdrop of a strong employment market and steady economic conditions.
The group said ahead of its annual general meeting later on Thursday it remains on track to deliver net profit after tax in the range of $250 million-$270 million and revenue between $1.25 billion and $1.30 billion.
It reported net profit of $245.5 million in FY22.
"Low unemployment and high candidate engagement continue to provide generally positive market conditions for SEEK," chief executive Ian Narev will tell shareholders in his address.
While job ad volumes in the Australia-New Zealand market have moderated slightly below June/July levels, applications per ad are showing improvement as a result.
Revenue at Seek's Asia business is also tracking slightly ahead of expectations, Mr Narev will say.
Seek has leveraged on record job ad volumes amid high demand for workers in the broader Asia Pacific region.
Australia's unemployment rate again dropped to 3.4 per cent in October, data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed on Thursday. The unemployment rate has been hovering near that 50-year low for months after first dropping to that level in July.
While Seek has seen revenue swell, its share price has underperformed over the past year, in part due to continued investments on its "platform unification" program to integrate into its ANZ website the Asian jobs boards JobsDB and JobStreet - that it acquired years ago.
The project will be completed by the end of 2023/24, but costs have risen from $125 million to $180 million.
Chairman Graham Goldsmith will acknowledge the disappointing share price performance in his address at the meeting.
"This is due largely to the drop in valuations of technology companies and an uncertain economic outlook that affects stocks - like SEEK - that are dependent in part on economic conditions," he will say.
By 11:50 AEDT, Seek shares were up 2.0 per cent to $21.84 but are still down nearly 40 per cent from a year ago.
