Cupid dating site attracts suitors despite fall in profits

Someone’s checking out the assets of Cupid, the online dating site, and could be interested in hooking up.

The group behind UniformDating.com and LoveAgain.com has received “a number of recent approaches” for its casual dating sites such as benaughty.com and flirt.com, and added that it was “exploring the proposed opportunities”.

Cupid has been accused of sending users expressions of interest from fake profiles to lure them into paying for a subscription. At Cupid’s annual meeting yesterday, the chairman, George Elliott, said an independent review into its member database and operating practices instigated by the board will be completed this month.

He added: “The group has also undertaken a further, separate review by a leading legal team.” It recommended clearer guidelines for customer services staff, and told Cupid to make it more obvious when its own staff were engaging with customers.

Cupid admitted higher spending on customer service and marketing in the first six months of the year would hit short-term profits.

It expects underlying earnings for the six months to July of £2.5m, down from £5.9m a year earlier.