Investment Company Formerly Cupid Reports £11.6m Loss

25th March 2015 Simon Edmunds

Castle Street Investments, the company that Cupid became after ditching online dating, has reported a £11.6m pre-tax loss for 2014.

The company called time on online dating last year, selling their remaining dating businesses for £3m to Tradax IP Licensing, Together Networks Holdings and Together Networks.

Their 2014 loss of £11.6m is compared to a net profit of £14.3m in 2013.

Chairman Bill Dobbie said: ”The company has now transitioned from an online dating company into a well capitalised investment vehicle.

“We are beginning to review selective opportunities that meet our investment criteria, and are considering a combination of cash returns and finding an attractive investment opportunity to propose to shareholders.”

In 2013 the company sold its casual businesses — including BeNaughty.com and flirt.com — for £45.1m to co-founder Max Polyakov.

Last year Cupid reported a loss of £3m for the first half of the year, compared to £2.8m in 2013.

Revenues from their continuing operations fell by over half to £7.2m.

The decision meant 180 staff were made redundant — 24 of whom worked in the UK, the majority from Ukraine and others spread between the US and France.

However, Dobbie said they expect to close 2015 with £20m available for investment, £2m more than expected.

Because of this, shares for Castle Street were up 7.7% on Tuesday morning.

“No dividend is proposed in respect of 2014 at this point but, subject to appropriate investment opportunities, we anticipate bringing a proposal to shareholders for an initial distribution, probably by way of a tender offer, before the end of December 2015.”