Boulogne-Billancourt, 2nd November 2011
MEETIC (MEET – FR0004063097), the European leader in online dating, today announces its consolidated results for the 3rd quarter and the first 9 months of 2011.
The total amount spent on advertising over the third quarter was €22.5 million, compared to €21.7 million over the second quarter and €36.5 million over the first quarter, giving a total investment of €80.7 million over the first 9 months of the year, or 59% of revenue for that period.
The EBITDA margin for the third quarter of 2011 was thus 20.4%.
The Group had a total of 797,093 subscribers at 30th September 2011, compared to 844,435 at 30th June 2011.
EBITDA margin stable at 14%
EBITDA for the first 9 months of the year was stable, totalling €19.2 million compared to €19.3 million for the same period of 2010, giving an EBITDA margin of 14%. Meetic is again reiterating its guidance of an EBITDA margin of over 20% in 2011.
Net profit: +6.6%
Taking into account depreciations of €2.9 million, income tax of €5.1 million and its share in the net profit of Match.com Global Investments of €1.3 million, the Group recorded net profit of €12.2 million over the first 9 months of the year compared to €11.4 million over the same period of 2010, an increase of +6.6%.
Cash flow:
At 30th September 2011, the Group had a cash surplus of €51.4 million and no debt. This compares to a cash surplus of €39.2 million at 30th June 2011.
IAC/InterActiveCorp becomes a 81.07% stakeholder in Meetic
Pursuant to the tender offer that ended on 1st September 2011, IAC/InterActiveCorp, the indirect parent company of Match.com Pegasus Ltd and Match.com Europe Ltd, indirectly holds 81.07% of Meetic’s capital and at least 76.68% of Meetic’s voting rights.
As announced at the end of September 2011, following the changes in its capital, Meetic carried out changes in the composition of its Board of Directors: Gregory R. Blatt, Chief Executive Officer of the IAC Group and a Director of Meetic, was appointed Chairman of the Meetic Group’s Board of Directors, thus replacing Marc Simoncini, who remains a member of the Board. At the same time, Philippe Chainieux was promoted to Chief Executive Officer of the Meetic Group and became a member of the Board.
Henceforth the clear majority shareholder in the Meetic Group, the IAC Group is currently working in active cooperation with Meetic’s teams to optimise synergies between the two structures. Subsequently, backed by its leadership position and its particularly solid financial structure, Meetic’s short-term priority is to generate cash flow and to ensure a return to progressive organic growth via a selective marketing investment strategy and the implementation of operational synergies.