(Reuters) - Online dating services provider Match Group Inc forecast third-quarter sales above estimates and reported better-than-expected second-quarter revenue on Tuesday, as its popular app Tinder attracted more users.
The app reported 5.2 million average subscribers in the quarter, 1.5 million more than last year.
Tinder, which has made "swipe left" and "swipe right" a point of pop culture conversations, grew its subscriber base manifold with new launches.
Tinder's lighter app version, Tinder Lite, was launched in the quarter on Android platforms in a few South-east Asian and South American countries.
The company also launched two new features Read Receipts and Super Boost for its premium Tinder Gold and Plus subscribers on iOS platform. Read Receipts allows a person to see if their match on the app has seen their messages, while Super Boost gives a person more visibility.
Average subscribers at June-end rose 18% to 9.1 million.
Match now expects to add over 1.6 million average subscribers in 2019, above the 1 million the company had forecast earlier.
The company forecast third-quarter revenue between $535 million (£440.6 million) and $545 million (£448.8 million), significantly above expectations of $521 million, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
Match said it sees adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of $200 million to $205 million, above estimates of $202.1 million.
Revenue for the three months ended June 30 rose about 18% to $498 million, above expectations of $489 million.
Net earnings attributable to shareholders fell to $128 million, or 43 cents per share, from $132.5 million, or 45 cents a year ago.
Excluding effects of foreign exchange, Match's average revenue per user was up 5% at $0.60.
(Reporting by Sayanti Chakraborty in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)
