ONLINE dating company Cupid is predicting another year of major growth after announcing that revenues in all of its territories have increased.
It also plans to open an office in the United States of America.
The Edinburgh business predicted its new markets division – which covers the US, Canada, France, Italy, Spain and Germany – would bring in more in the first half of this year than the £22.2million it secured across the whole of 2011.
It highlighted growth in the USA, where Cupid holds a share of around 2% of a market thought to be worth $1.2 billion, as particularly pleasing with 30% of new sign-ups doing so through mobile devices.
In a trading statement, Cupid said: "There is a significant opportunity for the business to grow within this region. The board is confident the Company will meet current full-year market expectations."
Plans to improve prospects across the Atlantic will include opening a permanent base in the US before the end of this year with several locations thought to be under consideration.
The established markets of the UK, Australia, New Zealand and Ireland are all on track to grow between 5% and 10% over the course of the full year.
It also confirmed operations in Brazil and India are progressing "as planned" from a relatively low base.
Cupid, led by chief executive Bill Dobbie, said it had ramped up its marketing spend, particularly in new markets, between the end of 2011 and April this year as it is traditionally a strong period for attracting customers.
That marketing activity has now been scaled back which should lead to greater profitability in the second half of the year.
Analysts expect Cupid to increase revenue from £53.6m to around £74m with pre-tax profits rising from £10.4m to more than £15m.
In a note, Edison Investment Research said: Cupid's trading update confirms it is on track to meet our ambitious targets for the year.
"The market continues to grow and change rapidly, with considerable opportunities presented by increasingly constant inter-activity by subscribers across proliferating channels and by the sheer level of available data.
"There are fewer players who can afford the investment in systems, platforms and marketing spend essential to maintain and grow share. Despite the spend, Cupid is set to deliver strong earnings growth."
Cupid floated on AIM in June 2010 with an initial price of 60p per share and reached a high of 260p in June last year.
In March this year, co-founder Max Polyakov left to set up a social gaming company in the United States.
A few days later he and Mr Dobbie, who previously co-founded and floated Scottish data storage firm Iomart, sold six million shares each to net them a windfall of £10.8m.
The shares finished the day up 1p at 213p.
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