Internet dating companies booming

While most companies are feeling the pinch as the global economic crisis continues to take hold and recession looms for many countries, the online dating industry is having the opposite experience.

According to a new report published by Forbes on Tuesday (January 8th), people are reining in their spending in a number of ways in order to get through the tough times ahead.

One of these cost-cutting measures is to spend less time out in pubs and bars, which have traditionally been the place to meet people casually and develop potential relationships.

As a result, it would appear that online dating sites are picking up the slack despite the huge diversity in the type of service on offer, with some posting huge profit increases.

For example, easydate.biz, one of the UK's top five providers, has increased its pre-tax profits of £180,000 in 2006 to a projected figure of around £6 million for the coming 12 months.

Online marketing manager Sean Wood told the news provider: "People are looking for alternative routes of finding a partner more than ever before.

"Joining a dating site costs a fraction of the amount you would spend in a night at a bar without having met the right person."

Another example of a company which is riding on the crest of the online dating wave is Match.com International, the European operation of major site Match.com.

It managed to turn a pre-tax loss of £2.19 million in the year to 31st December, 2006 into a pre-tax profit £3.67 million within 12 months, according to the Forbes article.

Meanwhile, Parship, an online dating service which targets people over the age of 35, claims that it saw sales rocket by some 400 per cent between 2005 and 2007, translating to a pre-tax profit of £4.5 million in the latter year.

Arndt Roller, chief executive of the company, told the news provider: "People that used to go to bars [to look for a potential partner] are now flocking more towards online matching sites.

"There is no risk or rejection and it is a safe environment."

Mr Wood also explained that the emergence of online dating is so strong that sites may be considering initial public offerings in the future.

"Watch this space. It might happen eventually, but this is not the best year to go public," he added.

Forbes suggests that eight million active single UK residents went on 24 million first dates last year, of which 68 per cent are said to have been arranged over the internet.