Monster Worldwide shares fall

HARTFORD, CONN. (AP) - Shares of Monster Worldwide Inc. tumbled Thursday as an analyst, saying the job Web site faces a significant revenue decline, cut his profit estimates for this year and 2010.

Analyst Andrew Fones at UBS Investment Research cut his 2009 estimate to a 37-per-share loss from a 14-cent per-share loss “for the more severe revenue decline in Europe than previously modeled,” he said in a note to investors late Wednesday.

Fones also reduced his 2010 estimate to a a 3-cent-per share loss, down from a profit of 14 cents per share.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect a profit of 31 cents a share for 2010.

Fones cut his price target to $9 from $11 and maintained his “Neutral” Rating.

“U.S. and European Monster and U.S. wanted job posting surveys suggest labor market weakness has caused steepening job posting declines,” Fones wrote in a note to investors late Wednesday.

He said he is concerned that an additional $30 million spent for marketing in the first quarter to launch a new platform “likely yielded little additional revenue in the weak demand environment.”

Shares dropped 37 cents, or 4.6 percent, to $7.77 in afternoon trading.