Daily Briefing: HRnetgroup to expand services in China; Shopee's weak performance hits Sea's earnings

And dining platform Chope forged partnership with China’s food delivery giant Meituan-Dianping.

From Bloomberg:

Bloomberg reports that HRnetgroup Ltd., Singapore’s biggest recruiter and human resources firm, is hoping that expanding services in China will help lift its share price that has sagged since an initial public offering two years ago. China’s headhunting market is booming, thanks to the willingness of job seekers to work seven days a week, according to HRnetgroup’s Executive Director Adeline Sim.

HRnetgroup's shares are trading below their initial public offer's price.

HRnetgroup plans to enlarge its professional recruitment business in Shenzhen and Chengdu whilst expanding into temporary staffing in Shanghai this year.

HRnetgroup last week posted a net profit of S$52.4m for fiscal 2018. Its share price has fallen by about 11% from the initial public offering price in June 2017. Sim said the Greater China expansion, together with its dividend payouts and acquisitions, should change that trajectory.

Read more here.

From DealStreet Asia:

Sea Ltd’s losses widened in 2018 as its e-commerce unit Shopee continued to weigh on earnings.

The firm’s adjusted EBITDA losses for FY18 jumped 109% to $694m from $332m in the previous year. Shopee’s weak performance was the main contributor, with adjusted EBITDA losses for the unit rising over 93% to $860.3m. Sea Ltd’s digital entertainment arm, meanwhile, saw its EBITDA profits rise 50.1% to $262.5m.

According to a statement by Sea, the company still overshot its group revenue targets, as well as for its digital entertainment and Shopee units. Total adjusted revenue for the group hit $1.05b, more than 10.4% above the midpoint of its previous guidance.

Read more here.

From Tech in Asia:

Singapore-headquartered dining platform Chope has formed an integrated regional partnership with China’s Meituan-Dianping, which calls itself a “life service platform.”

Through the partnership, Chinese tourists will have access to Chope’s localised dining services via Meituan-Dianping’s global lifestyle channels. These channels facilitate millions of Chinese users’ dining needs through restaurant discovery and reservation-making.

“The integration will help match tourist dining demands to our network of over 4,000 restaurants regionally,” explains Arrif Ziaudeen, Chope’s founder and CEO.

Read more here.