Amongst the many inconveniences brought upon by the global pandemic, lovelorn singles across Asia have had a difficult time finding ‘the one’ prompting matchmaker Love Group (ASX:LVE) to consider expanding beyond its flagship South-East Asian markets.
Reporting cash receipts of $690k for the Quarter ended 30 June 2021, it was a 11% improvement on the previous June Quarter during the height of the pandemic when key markets in Hong Kong and Singapore were in hard lockdown. Whilst easing of restrictions enabled some forms of in-person matchmaking to take place, there’s been much less love in the air compared to the pre-pandemic period when the Company was writing upward of $1.5 million per quarter.
“We experienced a challenging quarter as a result of a lower volume of store consultations, in particular in Singapore, which announced new COVID restrictions during the quarter Our Bangkok business increased substantially during the quarter as a result of higher marketing spend and staffing, leading to significant increase in consultation volumes,” said Love Group Founder and CEO, Michael Ye.
“Looking ahead to fiscal year 2022, we foresee continued challenges in our existing markets due to ongoing COVID restrictions and include government guidelines that may dissuade some consumers from signing up for offline store consultations.
“At the same time, we will evaluate new geographic expansion opportunities by identifying markets with less severe COVID restrictions and potential to deliver profitable Return on Ad Spend in a sustainable manner.”
With Hong Kong accounting for 72% of their customers and Singapore 19%, Ye is keen to expand the business to new locations where the Company’s in-person consultations can proceed with physical contact restrictions imposed by lockdowns.
Such consultations for matchmaking remains the core product for Love Group whose services are tailored for long-term, committed relationships, rather than the Tinder or Bumble market. While there has been some uptick in their online dating app and website Lovestruck, it’s social events in capital cities around the world to quickly meet lots of potential matches in a relaxed environment are still its core service.
Fortunately for the matchmaker, lead generation has not stopped through the pandemic so with a stockpile of eager singles, few companies will be awaiting the end of COVID more than Love Group.
Alfred Chan is an Analyst at Emerald Financial, specialising in ASX-listed small cap companies.
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