DATETIX'S ASIA AFFAIR LOOKS PROMISING

DATING company DateTix Group (ASX: DTX), which now operates three businesses, is laying solid groundwork in Asia for more than a love affair.

Delivering a strategic update to its shareholders this morning, DateTix Group founder and CEO, Michael Ye (pictured below), said the three business divisions 'greatly complement each other' and give his company 'ability to capture multiple segments of the dating services market'.

Free service DateTix targets singles aged 18 to 35, while Lovestruck targets singles aged 25 to 45, and Matchmaking aims to attract 30- to 50-year-old singles.

DateTix recorded more than 19,400 monthly active members in July 2016, showing an 18 per cent month-on-month growth.

Lovestruck, a subscription-based business model founded in London in 2006, took in $2.3 million in 2015 revenue, with over 96 per cent coming from recurring subscriptions.

The Hong Kong-based company completed its Lovestruck acquisition earlier this month, around the same time moving its Australian registered office from the Gold Coast to West Perth.

Two million ordinary shares in DateTix, escrowed for 24 months after the settlement date of July 31, were issued to the vendors of European company Lovestruck. A contingent earn-out consideration of up to $270,000 is payable in two equal instalments upon Lovestruck reaching certain revenue milestones three and six months after settlement.

"We are excited about positioning Lovestruck as a high-end premium brand as we expand into the $1.9 billion dating services market in China, where we believe the upper-end of the market is still being underserved by the numerous existing mass market dating services in the country," says Ye.

DateTix's third service is the more expensive Matchmaking, which charges about $3000 per client for 12 months. It's heavily focused on Shenzhen and Hong Kong, and sets up those looking for serious relationships and marriage.

Ye says Matchmaking is benefitting from sharing marketing and user acquisition costs with DateTix, and vice versa.

He says the group overall is focusing on 'Hong Kong, Singapore and tier-one cities in China'.

"The DateTix platform continues to experience strong growth momentum across all target markets. As our user base continues to grow, we will gradually explore more opportunities to monetise active users," says Ye.

"The acquisition of Lovestruck enables us to effectively enter the serious relationship segment of the market, which is particularly attractive in major Asian markets such as China and India.

"We anticipate that our revenue profile will significantly strengthen across the business in FY17, and we look forward to further updating shareholders in this regard in the coming weeks."

Ye has formerly told Business News Australia that the ASX presents 'a great opportunity for young startups to really explore financing opportunities'.

"Compared to the Hong Kong or the US, which are much stricter and you have to be a much bigger company, the ASX is much more flexible in allowing young companies to use it as a vehicle to raise finances."

DateTix is trading up more than 6 per cent on the ASX today at 35c per share.

The company is running on a negative net operating cash flow of -$2.4 million and has a market capitalisation of $5 million.