Lack Of Dating Due To COVID-19 Pandemic, Tinder Revenue Drops Drastically

JAKARTA - Match Group Inc, parent company of dating app Tinder, projected their fourth-quarter earnings below market forecasts on Tuesday, November 2 due to COVID-19. The pandemic has hit Tinder's business in Asia and delayed the launch of a new feature on their recently purchased Azar video chat app.

The surge in the Delta variant during the quarter has prompted new restrictions in several Asian countries, stalling a recovery in the company's key growth markets.

"We continue to feel some of the lingering effects of COVID across Asia, particularly in Japan, our second largest market by revenue," Match said in a statement. These conditions have made its shares fell 6%.

Match Group Inc expects fourth-quarter revenue of between $810 million and $820 million, below analysts' median forecast of $838.5 million, according to Refinitiv.

The forecast was also weighed down by an expected lower contribution from Hyperconnect, which Match bought earlier this year for $1.73 billion. The South Korean company's flagship app, Azar, has also faced declining usage and product development issues due to the pandemic.

Match says it is working to sharpen Hyperconnect's focus on social interaction, like other dating apps, although this process may take some time.

Match Group Inc has been trying to keep users interested in the aftermath of last year's pandemic boom by adding new features like "Plus One" on Tinder to help singles find wedding dates.

Dallas, Texas-based Match said it will pay more than $550 million in fees to app stores by 2021, as it navigates changes brought about by Google and Apple Inc.

Improvements are already starting to emerge in the app ecosystem fairness, but there's still a long way to go, Match said.

Their revenue rose 25% to 801.8 million in the third quarter, but missed estimates. The company added 16.3 million payers and revenue per payer was up 8%. Net income was 43 cents per share, missing expectations of 55 cents.