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Part 3 Assignment 1 ACCT13017


Below is some background information on my company, for your reading pleaseure:


I have been lucky enough to have SEEK Limited as my company. If you are an Australian resident I have no doubt in my mind that you will know what SEEK is. They state on their website that they are “a diverse group of companies that have a unified purpose to help people live more fulfilling and productive working lives and help organisations succeed.”

They boast a strong international portfolio of employment and education businesses, and declare themselves to be a market leader in online employment marketplaces, with a deep and rich insight into the future of work. They are proud of their global impact, sprouting exposure to 2.9 billion people, more than 51 million students and learners, and a presence in 18 countries.

They create products through ongoing investment in AI and technology and promote innovation, empowerment and collaboration. Being Australian owned they employ over 1,000 people in Australia, and over 10,000 people worldwide.

Their secret recipe for success includes:

1. Having a positive impact on society

2. Focussing on business fundamentals and customer outcomes rather than short term financials

3. Always striving, challenging and remaining productively paranoid

4. Doing the right amount of thinking up front

5. Persevering through obstacles to get it done

6. Creating a community where individuals are valued

7. Doing the right thing for SEEK, not what is popular or easy

The SEEK Board still consists of Andrew Bassat, who is the CEO and Co-Founder since their beginnings in Melbourne in 1997, and still remains involved in all stages and developments. The board as a whole consists of 4 men, 3 women, and a varying mix of ages.

The Chairman & CEO outlines in the 2019 Annual Report that they had a successful year delivering purpose, while still achieving strong financial results despite challenging macro-economic conditions. They aggressively pursued long term aspirations while investing largely to capture market opportunities in employment, education and the broader human capital management market. Progress was made towards their key strategic priorities which include:

· $5billion revenue opportunity by FY2025

· SEEK ANZ, SEEK Asia, Zhapoin, Online Education Services, Early Stage Ventures

· Compound annual growth of approximately 20% from FY2018 to FY2025 (2019 delivered 18% revenue growth)

· Investments in product and technology into high ROI initiatives

SEEK’s principal activity is the online matching of hirers and candidates, with investments in early stage businesses and technology which are the human capital management market, as well as the distribution and provision of higher education courses. At first glance I found that SEEK experience solid growth revenue in their programs, despite an EBITA that is less due to investments. Attributable profit is down also due to additional depreciation and amortisation from investments in product technology, higher net interest expense due to new fund investments, and higher losses by Early Stage Ventures while they scale up. Net cash outflows of $301.3m was used to invest in capital expenditure of $125.1m and payment for interests in equity of $121.9m.

Principal risks involve cyber security & business resilience, disruption and competition, data governance, talent, execution effectiveness, country and regulation, and economic conditions.

Remuneration forms a large part of the Annual Report. SEEK aims to pay competitively to attract the best talent. They have a strategy to support the business and grow the long term value of the group, rather than short term goals.

Sustainability in the future involves changing community expectations of environmental, social and governance standards for business. Future outlooks centre around the use of data (artificial intelligence and data technologies to drive improved candidate and hirer outcomes), cyber security, customer experience, their people.

Some news articles written about SEEK Limited, include the following from ShareCafe from 26th February 2020, where they described issues around SEEK slashing its interim dividend due to a change in dividend policy. The change comes about primarily due to two world events out of their control. Firstly the Hong Kong protests, where a significant amount of their revenue is sourced, and secondly the developing issues surrounding the economic impact of the Coronavirus pandemic.

Secondly, the following news article from HCA Mag from 1st May 2019 came from discussions had with SEEK’s Group HR Director about how the company is evolving to achieve business priorities. She discusses that their primary focus is to ensure employees have a great experience at work.

SEEK Limited also has their own YouTube channel where they post quite regularly with information and tips and tricks related to their purpose.

Below are links to their previous years Annual Reports:



 
 
 

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