Dating Group Match Projects Lower Revenue

Internet dating company Match Group on Tuesday projected lower than estimated fourth-quarter revenue due to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on its Asia-Pacific operations.

The parent of Tinder and other online matchmaking apps said Covid-19 had slowed Asian growth and delayed the launch of new features.

The company reported third-quarter revenue of $802 million, 25% higher than the quarter to September 2020. Ebitda income was $285 million, an increase of 15% over the same quarter in 2020.

However, the Dallas-based company said it expects fourth-quarter revenue of $810-820 million, lower than Reuters estimates of $838 million.

Covid Impacts

A surge of the Covid-19 Delta variant during the quarter prompted tighter restrictions in several Asia-Pacific countries, halting recovery in the company’s key growth markets.

“We continue to feel some lingering Covid-19 effects across Asia, particularly in Japan, our second-largest market by revenue,” Match said in a statement.

“We expect improvement as mobility restrictions lift, vaccine levels continue to rise, and case counts fall,” the company added.

Nasdaq listed Match shares fell as much as 6% before closing at $148.55, down 3.6%.

The group also includes the Meetic, OkCupid, Hinge, Pairs, PlentyOfFish and OurTime apps, as well as Asia-focused Azar and Hakuna Live.

The pandemic delayed new features on Azar, which Match acquired in February when it bought South Korean social networking company Hyperconnect for $1.73 billion.

The Hyperconnect apps allow users to connect to each other across language barriers, while Azar focuses on one-to-one video chats and Hakuna Live carries online broadcasts.

NY Court Case

Meanwhile, the Tinder co-founders are due in court in New York this week over their lawsuit against Barry Diller’s IAC Corp and Match Group.

The suit alleges that the two companies cheated entrepreneurs Sean Rad, Justin Mateen and Whitney Wolfe Herd out of billions of dollars in a 2017 share acquisition.