Details about MatchNet from Alyce Lomax at the Motley Fool:
Since 1999, MatchNet’s sales have grown 460% to $36.9 million, mirroring the upward trajectory of online dating. Last year, its net revenues increased 125%, with a 61% increase in “active members” and a 138% boost in paying subscribers.However, MatchNet also disclosed a sharply wider net loss for the year — $10.9 million, or $0.57 per share, from a loss of $0.5 million, or $0.03 per share the year before. Revenue per subscriber decreased by 17%, while subscriber churn increased by a few percentage points.
The company’s swelling expenses are largely a result of increased marketing costs — up 233% last year — because of competition. Partial justification for the IPO was to fund additional marketing and advertising.
Then there was the little disclosure that MatchNet’s co-chairmen received 265% bonus increases in 2003, giving each a $1.4 million payout — in my opinion, overly lavish compensation for a company poised to drum up public funds.
An IPO withdrawn just eight days after filing gave me the creeps. MatchNet’s press announcement also disclosed the resignation of CEO Todd Tappin (formerly of Overture and News Corp. (NYSE: NWS)), who has been on board since only February, and the fact that it now plans to cut 40 positions to trim costs.
