Chinese Internet recruitment provider 51job.com (JOBS) says total revenues for the fourth quarter of 2007 increased 24.8% over the fourth quarter 2006 to CNY213.6 million as it announced unaudited financial results for the fourth quarter of 2007 and for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2007.

Rick Yan, president and CEO of 51job, Inc., said, "Through our persistent focus on product innovation and execution of customer acquisition strategies, we are pleased to deliver to shareholders our fifth consecutive year of increased revenue and profitability. We are confident in our leadership position in the Chinese online recruitment market as our online services business continued to achieve robust growth in 2007. Combined with improved performance of our print advertising business and greater contribution from our training and outsourcing services, we ended the year on a solid note."

Total revenues for 2007 were CNY844.3 million, an increase of 21.0% from CNY697.9 million in 2006. Income from operations for 2007 increased 31.1% to CNY150.3 million from CNY114.7 million for 2006.

Print advertising revenues for the fourth quarter of 2007 increased 9.2% to CNY95.4 million compared with CNY87.4 million for the same quarter in 2006. The increase was primarily the result of a greater volume of advertisements in 51job Weekly which was partially offset by lower average revenue per page. The estimated number of print advertising pages generated in the fourth quarter of 2007 grew 20.8% to 3,962 compared with 3,281 pages in the same quarter in 2006. Average revenue per page in the fourth quarter of 2007 decreased 9.6% over the same quarter in 2006 due to growing revenue contribution from lower priced cities.

Online recruitment services revenues for the fourth quarter of 2007 were CNY76.9 million, representing a 31.2% growth from CNY58.6 million for the same quarter of the prior year. The increase was mainly attributable to growth in the number of employers using the company's online services. Unique employers using the company's online recruitment services increased 29.7% to 57,565 in the fourth quarter of 2007 compared with 44,377 in the same quarter of the prior year.

Gross profit for the fourth quarter of 2007 was CNY112.8 million, representing an increase of 28.4% from CNY87.9 million for the same quarter of the prior year. Gross margin was 55.8% in the fourth quarter of 2007 compared with 54.2% in the same quarter in 2006. Net income for the fourth quarter of 2007 increased 6.6% to CNY21.1 million from CNY19.8 million for the same quarter in 2006.

The estimated number of print advertising pages generated in 2007 increased 31.4% to 16,568 from 12,609 estimated pages in 2006. Unique employers using the company's online recruitment services grew 25.6% to 94,125 in 2007 from 74,950 in 2006. Employers who purchase online services multiple times or in multiple quarters throughout the fiscal year are counted as one unique employer for the annual total.

As of December 31, 2007, the company's cash balance was CNY1 billion compared with CNY868.7 million at December 31, 2006.