Monster Worldwide To Cut 300 Jobs, Reports Q4 Results

Monster Worldwide said it was laying off 300 employees, or 7% of its global full-time workforce, as part of a cost-cutting plan that could save the employment services company $38 million to $45 million a year. As a result, the company said it expects a record a charge of $18 million to $23 million in the first half of the year. Monster also reported fourth-quarter net loss of $289.7 million, or $3.31 a share, compared with a loss of $20.1 million, or 21 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. Excluding non-recurring items, adjusted earnings per share were 7 cents, above the FactSet consensus analyst estimate of 6 cents. Revenue declined 6% to $186.2 million, missing analyst forecasts of $192.6 million. The company expects first-quarter adjusted EPS of 5 cents to 9 cents, surrounding analyst projections of 7 cents. The stock, which was still inactive in premarket trade, has gained 2.7% over the past three months while the S&P 500 has edged up 0.4%.