Alfie Yeo of RHB Bank Singapore has remained bullish on HRnetGroup following in-line FY2025 earnings, but has slightly trimmed his target price from 84 cents to 83 cents to take into account a slightly larger share base.

 

" We continue to like HRnetGroup for its decent growth outlook, strong cash generation ability, and attractive dividend yield. Our net profit estimates are unchanged, as FY2025 earnings were in line," says Yeo in his March 16 note.

 

He expects near-term growth for the company to be driven by more permanent and flexible staffing placements on firm GDP growth regionally.

 

Yeo is seeing more job placements supporting growth, especially from regional markets. Citing RHB' s economists, China, where HRnetGroup has extensive businesses, will firm economic growth for China of 4.5% this year. Elsewhere, Indonesia and Malaysia&rsquo s 2026 GDP growth rates are expected to be 4.7% and 5%.

 

Singapore, meanwhile, should see a " stable" job outlook. According to the government, overall unemployment rate remained stable at 2% for January, largely unchanged from Nov 2025&rsquo s numbers.

 

From Yeo' s perspective, Vietnam, which is targeting 10% GDP growth this year, is HRnetGroup' s key growth driver ahead.

 

As described by the analyst, the company is building its new complementary revenue stream via its human resources technology brand, Octomate, which will penetrate further with new and existing clients.

 

" We see Octomate adding to growth over the longer term, having announced the securing of two contracts with Outward Bound Singapore and Sentosa Development Corp," he adds.

 

For FY2025, the company reported earnings of $49 million, up 8% y-o-y, on the back of a 3% gain in revenue to $584 million.

 

While revenue from the flexible staffing segment was up 3% y-o-y to $524 million from Taiwan, Indonesia, and China, there was a dip in Singapore.

 

Permanent placement, another key segment, saw revenue up 2% y-o-y to $56 million with volume up 5% y-o-y to 4,766.

 

The company' s gross profit margin expanded by 0.9 percentage points to 21.9% from higher-margin senior executive search services in Taiwan, China, South Korea, Thailand, and Malaysia.

 

HRnetGroup has declared a final dividend of 2.2 cents per share, which will bring its total payout for FY2025 to 4.2 cents, which is equivalent to a payout ratio of 81%.

 

Yeo has kept his earnings projections for the current FY2026 and coming FY2027, but because of slightly bigger share base, trimmed his target price to 83 cents. Valuation is undemanding at -0.5 sd of its 13x mean forward P/E.

HRnetGroup reported a 14.3% increase in earnings for FY2025, reaching $52.9 million. Revenue grew by 3% to $584 million, driven by increases in both flexible staffing and professional recruitment segments. The company plans to focus on senior executive search and expand its flexible staffing segment, while also cultivating recurring revenue streams.

 

The placement came about through a reverse inquiry from a financial institution and thus will not be paying any fees or commission, says the recruitment firm on Oct 6.

 

The investors are not named for now.

 

HRnetGroup says it decided to go ahead with the placement so as to enhance trading liquidity and free float.

It notes interest in hiring of IT engineers, data scientists and product teams by companies in finance and banking, media and platforms, healthcare and public sector

 

[SINGAPORE] Mainboard-listed HRnetGroup has expanded into Vietnam with the incorporation of a new wholly owned subsidiary. 

 

The move to incorporate AllwaysFirst in Ho Chi Minh City marks the recruitment company&rsquo s 18th city of operation, it said in a bourse filing on Tuesday (Sep 9).

 

The expansion is a strategic entry into one of Asia&rsquo s fastest-growing economies, said HRnet. Vietnam&rsquo s gross domestic product grew by 7.1 per cent in 2024 to an estimated US$476.3 billion, and is forecast to expand 6.8 per cent in 2025.

 

AllwaysFirst will focus on professional recruitment in Vietnam&rsquo s growth sectors, particularly in IT and tech. The group noted the high demand for such talent in the country, which produces around 57,000 IT graduates annually. 

 

There is &ldquo intense interest in the hiring of IT engineers, data scientists and product teams by companies in finance and banking, media and platforms, healthcare and the public sector&rdquo , said the group.

 

While HRnet said that any immediate contribution from the new subsidiary may not be material, it &ldquo takes a long-term view in cultivating depth and reach in new markets&rdquo .

 

Recruitment firm HRnetGroup reported earnings of $44.5 million for the FY2024 ended Dec 31, 2024, down 30% y-o-y. For 2HFY2024, the group saw a 35.3% y-o-y decrease in earnings to $22.8 million. 

 

Earnings per share for FY2024 came in at 4.53 cents per share. 

 

The group reported a lower revenue for FY2024 of $567 million, down 2% y-o-y. For the 2HFY2024, it saw a 0.9% y-o-y lower earnings of $281.1 million. 

 

The group&rsquo s gross profit declined 12.1% y-o-y in FY2024 to $122.2 million, and net profit after tax for the period declined 29.9% y-o-y to $46.3 million. 

 

Across the group&rsquo s two business segments, flexible staffing (FS) and professional recruitment (PR), FS revenue held steady while PR revenue declined 16.2% y-o-y. 

 

Across the group&rsquo s 17 operating cities, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Taipei and Shanghai registered growth. Gross profit contracted most severely in Singapore and mainland China. 

As Singapore is the largest revenue contributor at 66.3% to the group, weak economic growth impacted both FS and PR segments. Taipei, the group&rsquo s second largest contributor, held revenues and gross profit steady. 

 

Mainland China&rsquo s economic uncertainties saw PR experiencing declines in revenue and profit. 

 

Other income for the group dropped 45% y-o-y due to the increase in interest income by $1.1 million despite falling interest rates, net fair value loss on revaluation of equity instruments in the HR-related space, balance of trade-related accruals, and reduction of Singapore government grants and subsidies. 

The group has proposed a final dividend of 2.13 cents per share. With the interim dividend of 1.87 cents, the group has a total dividend of 4 cents per share.