SYDNEY, Aug 22 (Reuters) - Australian job classifieds portal...

SYDNEY, Aug 22 (Reuters) - Australian job classifieds portal Seek Ltd (SEK) said on Monday its underlying annual profit fell 4.2 percent, as revenue from its education business halved.

The company's underlying profit excluding one-off costs was A$178.9 million ($136 million) in 2015-16, compared with A$186.8 million the previous year and below an average of analysts' forecasts of A$181.5 million.

If investments in early-stage businesses were stripped out, net underlying profit was A$198.1 million, exceeding guidance of A$195 million. Revenue generated from domestic operations and in subsidiaries in China and Brazil rose.

Seek's overall net profit, which was boosted by the sale of its stake in international student placement service IDP Education, was A$357.1 million. The company announced a final dividend of 19 cents, compared with a final dividend of 17 cents in 2015. ($1 = 1.3151 Australian dollars)