IAC/InterActive Corp. swung to a profit in the June quarter, as
revenue at its Match Group grew 19% ahead of the division's planned
initial public offering.
Earnings beat expectations, sending shares up 1.7% in recent
aftermarket trading.
IAC's Match Group, which includes the dating site Match.com,
reported a revenue increase of 19%. The segment benefited from 18%
growth in subscribers for its dating businesses, along with
contributions from its acquisition of test-prep service The
Princeton Review and from FriendScout24. The revenue increase would
have been 25% were it not for the negative effect of the strong
dollar.
In June, the company followed through on a long-expected plan to
pursue an IPO of Match, which houses the dating sites and apps
Match.com, Tinder and OkCupid. Match itself agreed to buy dating
site PlentyOfFish for $575 million in cash before its proposed
initial public offering.
In the most recent quarter, IAC said revenue fell 11% in its
search and applications unit, its biggest segment. Websites revenue
fell 20% due mostly to a decline in revenue at Ask.com, though
partially offset by strong growth at About.com.
Overall, IAC/InterActive reported a profit of $59.3 million, or
68 cents a share, compared with a loss of $18 million, or 22 cents
a share, a year earlier.
Excluding stock-based compensation and other items, per-share
earnings rose to 85 cents from 4 cents a year earlier.
Revenue grew to $771 million from $756 million.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected per-share profit of
59 cents and revenue of $776 million.
Write to Angela Chen at angela.chen@wsj.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires