Dating site Jiayuan sees slow growth in earnings and users, looks to youngsters with new flirting app

China might be a land of tens of millions of bachelors due to the gender imbalance, but that doesn’t mean it’s an easy ride for an online dating business. That’s definitely the case for Jiayuan (NASDAQ:DATE). The site has revealed its earnings report for Q3 2013, once again showing agonizingly slow growth.

Jiayuan is now at 5.43 million monthly active users. That’s up from 5.18 million at the end of 2011, and 4.4 million at the end of 2010. Jiayuan listed in the US in May 2011.

The dating site’s paying user-base rose to 1.37 million in Q3 this year, up from 1.27 million in the same period last year.

Here are the financials:

• Net revenues hit RMB 128.7 million ($21 million) in Q3, up 13.4 percent year-on-year. That was slightly short of market estimations.

• Net income rose to RMB 17.6 million ($2.9 million), up 10.7 percent Y-o-Y.

• Average monthly revenue per paying user (ARPU) for online services is RMB 25.5 ($4.19), down slightly from last year.

• Offline activities – like personalized matchmaking services and events – contributed 15.2 percent of net revenues.

Jiayuan is looking to energize its finances – and fight off new, mobile-only dating and flirting apps – with a new smartphone app called Tali that’s aimed at China’s 20-something singles. That’s currently in beta testing.

See Jiayuan’s full Q3 report here.

(Editing by Vanessa Tan)