The power of love proves profitable - Herald Scotland

CUPID, the Edinburgh-based internet dating business, has doubled its profits and has also enlarged its global footprint by doubling its active members in six months to 12 million in a dozen countries.

The AIM-listed company, previously known as Easydate, posted pre-tax profits of 3.94 million for the six months to the end of June, compared with 1.99m previously.

First-half revenue came in at 25.4m, compared with 8.8m in the year-earlier period.

UK revenues increased by 68% to 11.9m, but the companys rapid growth overseas means these markets now account for 53% of its revenues, compared with 19% a year ago.

The companys fortunes have been boosted by moving into new markets such as Brazil, Germany and Italy, giving it a presence in every continent.

The market for our services is global and growing and we are well placed to take advantage of opportunities

In total, it has around 34 million members, with some 15 million of them in the UK.

Asked about the companys ambitions, Bill Dobbie, Cupids chief executive, said: We have always wanted to be an internationally recognised dating business, and were definitely on our way.

We wont be growing quite as quickly in the more mature markets in the future, such as the UK and the US, but fast growth is certainly expected to continue elsewhere.

We now have the stepping stones in place. There might be a few other acquisitions.

We are continually looking but there is nothing specific or imminent.

However, he added that the company was continuing to establish a strong foothold into the North American market and that over the past six months Cupid had also enjoyed particularly strong European growth in France and more recently Italy and Spain.

Earlier this month, Cupid announced it had acquired Brazilian dating sites in a deal worth 500,000 AondeNamoro.com, a traditional online dating site, and SolteirosComFilhos.com, a specialist dating site for single parents, as part of its international expansion strategy.

Cupid raised 12m in a share placement in April, which it said would fund an ambitious acquisition strategy.

It has since acquired a 75% stake in German online dating sites, Liebe and WomenWeb.

In February, it snapped up Indian matchmaker Indian-Dating.com, which focuses its attentions on dating and matchmaking within the Indian community in North America, in a deal worth $200,000 (125,000).

Since its initial public offering last year, other purchases have included the $6.6m (4m) acquisition of cupid.com, in addition to a number of dating and niche sites, including Benaughty.com, Flirt.com, Dating-ForParents.com, MatureDatingUk.com and lesbian site Planetsappho.com.

Ivor Jones, an analyst at brokerage Numis, said: Cupid has once again demonstrated the power of love, with outstanding first-half results.

He also said that he expected the companys underlying profits to hit 10.5m in the full year.

Mr Jones added that he could have upgraded his short-term profits forecast by between 10% and 15%, but instead expects to see it spend more money on marketing in recently entered overseas markets.

Meanwhile, Mr Dobbie, who founded Cupid with Max Polyakov, said: We continue the transition from being a UK- centric dating company into a true international player.

Our global footprint is expanding and we continue to make acquisitions where we see potential for growth.

The market for our services is global and growing and we are well placed to take advantage of the numerous opportunities that exist.