Spark Networks, Inc. (LOV) Misses Q2 EPS by 2c

Spark Networks, Inc. (NYSE: LOV) reported Q2 EPS of $0.00, $0.02 worse than the analyst estimate of $0.02. Revenue for the quarter came in at $12.3 million versus the consensus estimate of $13.03 million.

Chief Executive Officer Michael Egan stated, "We are pleased to have made considerable progress toward transforming our business during the second quarter, and remain on track to return to sequential subscriber growth across both JDate and ChristianMingle by Q4.

"As a result of the hard work of our teams, by the end of the quarter we began to see real improvements in a number of our underlying subscriber acquisition and retention metrics. These improvements have continued into early Q3 with July being a very solid month for us. In July, our Jewish Network subscriber numbers were up for the first time in a year and our Christian Network subscriber numbers were flat against the end of Q2.

"Our product and technology teams continue to hit their development milestones with the re-design and re-architecture of our core websites and we expect to deliver an updated JDate experience in early Q4 and an updated ChristianMingle experience in the latter part of that quarter. Concurrently, we've been able to release a number of valuable product improvements including an upgrade of our communication platform that has dramatically increased our users' interaction with each other. We also continue to improve our mobile offerings and it is exciting to see that over a third of our new subscribers are now coming through these channels.

"The most encouraging signs are coming from our new marketing team as they have begun to demonstrate meaningful improvements in our customer acquisition and retention programs. For example, we are currently seeing in excess of 10% efficiency gains with our ChristianMingle television marketing spend, our largest acquisition channel. In July, on JDate, we generated more initial registrations than any month since the first quarter of 2014. Additionally, our lifecycle team has captured a 10% and 20% improvement in win-back rates with recent cohorts versus a year ago on JDate and ChristianMingle, respectively.

"It is important to note that this is just the start. As we roll out new and refreshed products, and continue to enhance our operational capabilities, we expect to drive continued improvements in customer growth and retention.

"Finally, over the last year, we have been approached by various parties to consider acquisition opportunities that take advantage of our brands, strengthening platform, and core competencies. Given the stabilization of our business, we are now positioned to explore these opportunities and will update investors as appropriate.

"While we still have work in front of us, we are encouraged that our efforts are beginning to bear fruit and result in real improvements in the business. Our crawl, walk, run strategy remains squarely on track and we look forward to running in Q4."

For earnings history and earnings-related data on Spark Networks, Inc. (LOV) click here.

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