The Match Group Profits Decline Following Break From IAC

The Match Group has reported a drop in profits in its first quarter as a publicly traded company.

Last October, the IAC-spinoff filed to go public, announcing plans to raise as much as $537m for its IPO.

However, since appearing on the stock market, the company has reported a 3.2% fall in shares in after-hours trading.

And despite seeing its revenue rise by 12% to $267.6m, Tinder’s parent company did not meet analysts expectations of $277.3m in its first quarter as a public entity.

In the final quarter of 2015, Match reported a drop in profits to $35.6m, equating to 16 cents per share.

This was down from $48.3m (29 cents per share) in the comparable quarter of 2014.

After acquiring Plenty of Fish back in July for $575m, Match has reported a significant growth in its dating revenue.

The company said its dating revenue rose 14% to $241.5m, helped mostly by Plenty of Fish and Tinder, which saw a 30% rise in paid members and year-over-year growth at both businesses.

Chairman and CEO of Match Group, Greg Blatt said: “Match Group had a seminal fourth quarter, completing our initial public offering, the acquisition of PlentyOfFish, and the realignment of our management structure to better reflect our increasing global scale.

“At the same time, we delivered solid revenue and profit growth and we head into 2016 with increasing momentum, which we expect will continue to build throughout the year.”

The company saw its average revenue per paying user fall by 14% to 53 cents, attributing this loss to its increasing focus on lower-paying brands, like Tinder.

However, The Match Group saw a 16% rise in adjusted EBITDA year-on-year for Q4 of 2015, increasing to $99.3m from 2014.

The company commented on the results further, saying: “Overall, we’re incredibly pleased with our position.

“As the unquestioned leader in the rapidly expanding global dating products category, we are set up strongly to drive growth and profitability.

“Our enthusiasm and optimism are high, we’re focused nose-down on execution, and are looking forward to delivering meaningful growth in shareholder value.”

Download the full results here.