Spark Networks Releases First Half 2018 Earnings
Spark Networks SE, umbrella firm to EliteSingles, eDarling, Jdate, Christian Mingle, JSwipe, SilverSingles, and Attractive World, has reported its first half 2018 financial results today.
For the half ending 30th June 2018, total revenue was €53.0 million. This represented an increase of 25.9% from the half ending 30th June 2017, and a 21.8% increase from the half ending 31st December 2017.
Year-on-year, the amount of paid subscribers increased 34%. This was offset slightly by a ~6% decrease in ARPU.
Adjusted EBITDA was €2.4 million, up €62,000 from the half ending 30th June 2017. The figure is a decrease of €1.8 million from the half ending 31st December 2017.
On the impact of the Affinitas / Spark merger, it is noted: “Spark contributed 91.3% of the year over year revenue increase through the addition of Jdate, JSwipe and Christian Mingle following the close of the Affinitas / Spark Merger in November 2017.
“Revenue in the six months ended June 30, 2018 includes €9.9 million of post-merger revenue from Spark, net of a €289 thousand write-off of contract liabilities relating to the Affinitas / Spark Merger.”
Jeronimo Folgueira, Chief Executive Officer of Spark Networks SE, said: “Our growth strategy remains focused on EliteSingles, our newly added Jdate, JSwipe and Christian Mingle brands, and the recently launched SilverSingles brand. All three of these areas performed well in the first half of the year and we expect to carry our current momentum through the second half of 2018 and into 2019.
“Our largest brand, EliteSingles, continues to grow nicely. For the last three years, expanding Elite’s presence in North America has been a top company priority, and the first half of 2018 was no different.
“On a constant currency basis Elite North America grew in excess of 16% year over year. This growth was offset by a 12% F/X headwind as the Euro strengthened significantly versus the US Dollar in the first half of 2018, resulting in 4% year over year revenue growth for Elite North America on a reported basis.
“While we are pleased to see the continued growth of Elite in North America, we are even more excited about our ability to drive an acceleration in subscriber KPIs as Elite’s North American brand recognition continues to grow. We have seen a pattern in many of Elite’s more mature European markets where increased brand awareness and network size have created a virtuous cycle of marketing efficiency and revenue growth.
“Our experience in these markets gives us confidence that we are nearing a positive inflection point for the growth and profitability of EliteSingles North America.
“(…) In short, we continue to see opportunities to deploy growth capital with attractive returns. While there is a lot of work left to do at Spark, it’s encouraging to see results that confirm our growth initiatives are working. We are very excited by our performance thus far in 2018 and are confident that we can continue to grow the business into 2019 and beyond.”
Read more here.