Morgan Stanley has maintained its 'equal weight' rating on China's 51job Inc, following the company's release of its second quarter earnings.

Net income fell by 3 pct from a quarter ago on a higher tax rate, but grew 20 pct year-on-year to 31 mln yuan, with non-GAAP earnings per share at 0.74 yuan, in line with guidance.

51job's sales rose 5 pct from the previous quarter and 21 pct from a year ago to 210 mln yuan, in line with the brokerage's estimates.

Morgan Stanley said it was impressed by the company's online sales surge, record gross margin growth and emergence of other human resource services as the most robust sales driver in the quarter.

But the brokerage said it was concerned by a quarterly dip in spending per online customer, a fall in average sales per advertising page and a narrowing of the gap by ChinaHR in page view per user.

Morgan Stanley said 51job has begun to more aggressively promote its brand name, has improved its non-human resources-related offerings and has increased its sales staff and marketing expenditures.

The brokerage noted that 51job has set up a coupon advertising company with Japan's Recruit, which is likely to leverage the latter's product know-how and 51job's distribution platform.

At the end of trading on the Nasdaq last Friday, 51job Inc was down 2.06 usd, or 10.67 pct, at 17.25 usd.