The results reveal net revenues of RMB911.9m (£102.8m), with online recruitment services revenues increased and HR-related revenues up 11.9% and 13.5% respectively.

The group also posted gross margin of 72.7% compared with 73.5% in Q1 2018. 

President and CEO Rick Yan commented: “Amid economic uncertainty, we saw a slower start to 2019 as employers exercised more caution with their recruitment plans and activities. Although growth for our online business moderated compared to last year, we continued to make good progress on our key strategic objective of ARPU [average revenue per user] improvement, which increased 24% in the first quarter.

“In the other HR services area, the recent implementation of new regulatory standards and procedures, primarily related to the significant overhaul of the individual income tax law in China, resulted in some short-term pain to our HR outsourcing business.

“As we navigate through this period of softer demand and await more market visibility, we will stay focused on our high quality growth strategy, maintain financial discipline by balancing investments and returns, and continue to expand 51job’s footprint in the HR services industry in China.”

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