SEEK (ASX:SEK) management used its latest earnings call to highlight what CEO Ian Narev described as one of the company’s strongest sets of operational results, delivered amid volatility in equity markets and a softer employment environment in parts of the region. Executives repeatedly emphasized that gains in placement share and yield were being driven by product improvements tied to SEEK’s proprietary data and long-running investment in AI, while the company also reiterated its operating leverage focus and announced a record dividend.
Management cites momentum in placement share, yield and operating leverage
Narev said the latest half showed “shares up, yields up” and clear operating leverage, supported by a strong balance sheet and a record dividend. He noted that translation to the bottom line “still needs to come a bit more,” and referenced the Zhaopin write-down as a topic for Q&A, while maintaining that SEEK was “well on the way.”
Proprietary marketplace data positioned as key AI advantage
Executives argued that competitive advantage in AI-enabled marketplaces comes less from access to AI models and more from unique proprietary data. Narev said SEEK has roughly “750 million data points,” most of which cannot be replicated or scraped, and that the company’s focus is using those insights to elicit preferences and improve matching on both sides of the marketplace.
Grant (executive speaking to strategy) added that SEEK sees close to “1 billion actions and decisions” on its marketplace every day, spanning candidate activity (reviews, saves, applications and expressed priorities) and hirer activity (search, review, shortlist and contact behaviors). He said this two-sided dataset creates a reinforcing loop: better matching drives more activity, which generates more data and further improves matching.
He also outlined how the same dataset supports pricing and yield, saying SEEK’s pricing system monitors supply and demand across about 45,000 labor market segments across APAC. Management described a feedback loop in which hirers’ choices among performance options provide willingness-to-pay data that improves pricing models over time.
Product rollouts and AI features highlighted across candidate and hirer experiences
On product, management pointed to a high pace of delivery and a broad set of AI-enabled features. Grant said SEEK is using a range of AI models, including in-house machine learning models, large language models fine-tuned on SEEK data, “Sequence Models” designed to predict next actions, and experimentation with agentic search systems.
He said SEEK’s improved matching and explanations have increased the likelihood that candidates “see and apply for relevant jobs,” and that these improvements supported placement share gains in ANZ over the last three years. On the hirer side, he said “high-fit targeting” in Advanced and Premium ads has increased depth adoption and supported sustainable yield growth over a three-year period.
Simon (product executive) offered additional examples of live products in-market, including natural language search integration, conversational experiences in job search, and an “intelligent career feed” that uses profile and behavioral data to reduce candidate effort. He also discussed improvements in candidate notifications that have lifted channel performance over the past couple of years, and tools designed to explain fit to candidates who might otherwise hesitate to apply outside their frame of reference.
Trust and verification also featured prominently. Simon said SEEK Pass has a team of more than 100 people, is present across APAC markets, and is scaling verification using AI models that check identity and assess authenticity. He also described hirer-side tools that help create higher quality ads and improve conversion of new hirers to job posting, as well as a reference checking product launched in the half that uses a “full voice agent” to interview referees and structure the results into SEEK’s platform.
Regional performance: ANZ grows in down market; Asia continues freemium rollout
Peter (regional executive) said ANZ remained a down market, but SEEK delivered double-digit revenue growth, gained share, reached the “highest share in recent history” in ANZ, and recorded a 17% yield uplift. He said volumes were slightly down due to macro conditions, but the revenue and yield performance was “product driven,” including increased depth penetration.
He also noted a positive macro signal in New Zealand, where volumes were up year-on-year after a multi-year period of substantial decline. Peter said SEEK’s lead over the second-largest competitor in ANZ continued to widen, with management describing record levels both in absolute share and in the gap versus competitors.
In Asia, Peter said SEEK continued its commercial transformation with the freemium model, including a full six months of Singapore and the launch of Hong Kong (described as its largest market). While paid volume was down, he said revenue was up and management was pleased with longer-term indicators, pointing to an 18% year-on-year increase in monthly unique hirers as a leading indicator. He said SEEK launched Malaysia two weeks prior to the call, completing the rollout so freemium is now live in all markets.
Financials: revenue up, costs contained, impairment recorded, dividend raised
CFO Kendra provided financial detail for the first half, reporting revenue of AUD 601 million, up 12% year-on-year (or 11% excluding Sidekicker). She said total costs grew 8% excluding Sidekicker, supporting operating leverage, with EBITDA up 19% and adjusted profit of AUD 104 million, up 35% for continuing operations.
The company recorded an AUD 356 million non-cash impairment charge against its Zhaopin investment. Kendra said the appendix detailed how the Zhaopin investment value on SEEK’s books moved from AUD 529 million in June to AUD 182 million in the period, reflecting changes over the last six months.
She said the board declared a record dividend of AUD 0.27 per share, up 13% from the prior year, citing strong financial performance and trajectory. On cost structure, she said SEEK focuses internally on total costs across OpEx and CapEx, while reporting under accounting standards. For the half, OpEx rose 7% and CapEx rose 24%, reflecting prioritization toward “grow the business” activities, particularly AI-focused product development and associated infrastructure and compute costs.
On balance sheet, Kendra said net leverage improved to 2.0x from 2.3x a year earlier, within SEEK’s target of less than 2.5x. She also discussed the SEEK Growth Fund, reporting total portfolio value (including distributions) up 1% year-on-year as of December 31, with return on invested capital since inception of about 33% and an IRR of 8%.
Management also noted the Growth Fund had announced it was commencing a process to sell its stake in Employment Hero, while emphasizing the decision sits with the fund and that it would sell only at a price it considered good value.
On outlook, Narev said SEEK tightened its guidance range and expects revenue and EBITDA to land in the “top half” of the original guidance range. He reiterated that continued execution would be required, but said management’s confidence was supported by the results and the assets underpinning SEEK’s marketplace.
Narev closed by noting two departures: chair Graham Goldsmith and head of investor relations Dan McKenna, thanking both for their contributions.
About SEEK (ASX:SEK)
SEEK Limited, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of online employment marketplace services in Australia, South East Asia, Brazil, New Zealand, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Europe, and internationally. It operates through ANZ, SEEK Asia, Brazil Online, OCC, Platform support, Portfolio investments, and SEEK Growth Fund segments. The company offers Jora, an online employment marketplace; JobAdder, a talent acquisition suite that simplifies the hiring process for recruiter and corporate talent acquisition teams; and Certsy, a platform to securely verify and share work credentials, and to complete compliance checks.
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