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Spark Networks PLC · 10-K · For 12/31/06

Filed On 4/2/07 4:25pm ET   ·   SEC File 1-32750   ·   Accession Number 1193125-7-72199

  in   Show  and 
  As Of               Filer                 Filing     As/For/On Docs:Pgs              Issuer               Agent

 4/02/07  Spark Networks PLC                10-K       12/31/06    8:194                                    RR Donnelley/FA

Annual Report   ·   Form 10-K
Filing Table of Contents

Document/Exhibit                   Description                      Pages   Size 

 1: 10-K        Annual Report                                       HTML  1,255K 
 2: EX-10.1(F)  Sixth Amendment to Lease                            HTML     20K 
 3: EX-10.8(A)  List of Officers and Directors Entering Into        HTML      8K 
                          Indemnification Agreement                              
 4: EX-21.1     List of Subsidiaries                                HTML      8K 
 5: EX-23.1     Consent of Ernst & Young Llp                        HTML      5K 
 6: EX-31.1     Certification of Adam S. Berger (Ceo)               HTML      8K 
 7: EX-31.2     Certification of Mark G. Thompson (Cfo)             HTML      8K 
 8: EX-32.1     Certifications of Chief Executive Officer and       HTML      7K 
                          Chief Financial Officer                                


10-K   ·   Annual Report
Document Table of Contents

Page (sequential) | (alphabetic) Top
 
11st Page
"Part I
"Business
"Risk Factors
"Unresolved Staff Comments
"Properties
"Legal Proceedings
"Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders
"Part Ii
"Market for Registrant s Common Equity, Related Shareholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
"Selected Financial Data
"Management s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
"Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk
"Financial Statements and Supplementary Data
"Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure
"Controls and Procedures
"Other Information
"Part Iii
"Directors, Officers and Corporate Governance
"Executive Compensation
"Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Shareholder Matters
"Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence
"Principal Accountant Fees and Services
"Part Iv
"Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules
"Signatures
"Report of Ernst & Young LLP, Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
"Consolidated Balance Sheets at December 31, 2006 and December 31, 2005
"Consolidated Statements of Operations for the years ended December 31, 2006, 2005, and 2004
"Consolidated Statements of Shareholders Equity for the years ended December 31, 2006, 2005 and 2004
"Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows for the years ended December 31, 2006, 2005 and 2004
"Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

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  Form 10-K  

UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

 

þ ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2006

OR

 

¨ TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

FOR THE TRANSITION PERIOD FROM              TO             

COMMISSION FILE NO. 001-32750

SPARK NETWORKS PLC

(EXACT NAME OF REGISTRANT AS SPECIFIED IN ITS CHARTER)

 

ENGLAND AND WALES   98-0200628
(State or other jurisdiction of
incorporation or organization)
  (I.R.S. Employer
Identification No.)
8383 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 800, Beverly Hills, California   90211
(Address of principal executive offices)   (Zip Code)

REGISTRANT’S TELEPHONE NUMBER, INCLUDING AREA CODE: (323) 836-3000

SECURITIES REGISTERED PURSUANT TO SECTION 12(b) OF THE ACT:

 

Title of Each Class   Name of Each Exchange on Which Registered
Ordinary Shares, par value £0.01 per share   American Stock Exchange

SECURITIES REGISTERED PURSUANT TO SECTION 12(g) OF THE ACT:

None.

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.    Yes  ¨    No  þ

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act.    Yes  ¨    No  þ

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.    Yes  þ    No  ¨

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K (§ 229.405 of this chapter) is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K.    ¨

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, or a nonaccelerated filer. See definition of accelerated filer and large accelerated filer” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):

Large accelerated filer  ¨    Accelerated filer  ¨    Non-accelerated filer  þ

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act). Yes ¨ No x

As of June 30, 2006, the aggregate market value of the registrant’s ordinary shares held by non-affiliates of the registrant was approximately $64,152,166 based on the closing sale price of the ordinary shares in the form of Global Depositary Shares as reported on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. The registrant’s American Depositary Shares were approved for listing on the American Stock Exchange in February 2006. Ordinary shares held by each officer and director and by each person who owns 10% or more of the outstanding ordinary shares have been excluded in that such persons may be deemed to be affiliates. This determination of affiliate status is not necessarily a conclusive determination for other purposes.

The registrant had 30,904,460 outstanding ordinary shares, par value £0.01 per share, as of March 1, 2007.

 



SPARK NETWORKS, PLC

TABLE OF CONTENTS TO ANNUAL REPORT ON FORM 10-K

For the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2006

 

ITEM

   Page

PART I

     

Item 1.

  

Business

   4

Item 1A.

  

Risk Factors

   10

Item 1B.

  

Unresolved Staff Comments

   31

Item 2.

  

Properties

   31

Item 3.

  

Legal Proceedings

   31

Item 4.

  

Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders

   34

PART II

     

Item 5.

  

Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Shareholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

   35

Item 6.

  

Selected Financial Data

   37

Item 7.

  

Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

   40

Item 7A.

  

Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk

   60

Item 8.

  

Financial Statements and Supplementary Data

   61

Item 9.

  

Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure

   61

Item 9A.

  

Controls and Procedures

   61

Item 9B.

  

Other Information

   61

PART III

     

Item 10.

  

Directors, Officers and Corporate Governance

   62

Item 11.

  

Executive Compensation

   65

Item 12.

  

Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Shareholder Matters

   80

Item 13.

  

Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence

   82

Item 14.

  

Principal Accountant Fees and Services

   83

PART IV

     

Item 15.

  

Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules

   84
  

Signatures

   87

Spark Networks and Spark Networks logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Spark Networks plc.

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This annual report on Form 10-K, including the sections entitled “Risk Factors,” “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and “Business,” contains forward-looking statements that involve substantial risks and uncertainties. All statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this annual report on Form 10-K, including statements regarding our future financial position, business strategy and plans and objectives of management for future operations, are forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as “believes,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “intends,” “estimates,” “may,” “will,” “continue,” “should,” “plan,” “predict,” “potential” or the negative of these terms or other similar expressions. We have based these forward-looking statements on our current expectations and projections about future events and financial trends that we believe may affect our financial condition, results of operations, business strategy and financial needs. Our actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements, which are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions described in the “Risk Factors” section and elsewhere in this Form 10-K, regarding, among other matters:

 

   

our significant historical operating losses in years prior to 2006 and uncertainties relating to our ability to continue to generate positive cash flow and operating profits in the future;

 

2


   

our ability to attract members to our web sites, convert members into paying subscribers and retain our paying subscribers;

 

   

the highly competitive nature of our business;

 

   

our ability to keep pace with rapid technological change;

 

   

the strength of our existing brands and our ability to maintain and enhance those brands;

 

   

our ability to effectively manage our growth;

 

   

our dependence upon the telecommunications infrastructure and our networking hardware and software infrastructure;

 

   

uncertainties relating to potential acquisitions of companies;

 

   

the volatility of the price of our equity securities;

 

   

the strain on our resources and management team of being a public company in the United States;

 

   

the ability of our principal shareholders to exercise significant influence over our company; and

 

   

other factors referenced in this annual report on Form 10-K and other reports.

You should not rely upon forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. We cannot assure you that the events and circumstances reflected in the forward-looking statements will be achieved or occur. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. Moreover, neither we nor any other person assume responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of the forward-looking statements. Except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements for any reason after the date of this Form 10-K to conform these statements to actual results or to changes in our expectations.

You should read this annual report on Form 10-K, and the documents that we reference in this Form 10-K and have filed as exhibits with the Securities and Exchange Commission, completely and with the understanding that our actual future results, levels of activity, performance and achievements may materially differ from what we expect. We qualify all of our forward-looking statements by these cautionary statements.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

We are required to file annual, quarterly and current reports, proxy statements and other information with the SEC. You can read our SEC filings over the Internet at the SEC’s Web site at http://www.sec.gov. You may also read and copy any document we file with the SEC at its public reference facilities at 100 F Street, N.E. Washington, DC 20549. You may also obtain copies of the documents at prescribed rates by writing to the Public Reference Section of the SEC at 100 F Street, N.E., Washington, DC 20549. Please call the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330 for further information on the operation of the public reference facilities. Our SEC filings are also available at the office of the American Stock Exchange. For further information on obtaining copies of our public filings at the American Stock Exchange, you should call (212) 306-1000.

We maintain a corporate Web site at www.spark.net. You may access our annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, and amendments to those reports filed with, or furnished to, the SEC pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, with the SEC free of charge at our Web site as soon as reasonably practicable after such material is electronically filed with, or furnished to, the SEC. The reference to our Web address is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute incorporation by reference of the information contained on this Web site.

 

3


 PART I

 

 ITEM 1. BUSINESS

Our Business

We are a leading provider of online personals services in the United States and internationally. Our Web sites enable adults to meet online and participate in a community, become friends, date, form a long-term relationship or marry. We provide this opportunity through the many features on our Web sites, such as detailed profiles, onsite email centers, real-time chat rooms and instant messaging services. During 2006, Spark Networks averaged approximately 2.8 million unique monthly visitors from the United States to its websites, according to comScore Media Metrix. This ranked us as the fourth largest provider of online personals services in the United States, in terms of average monthly unique visitors for the year. The number of “total unique visitors” to our Web sites as measured by comScore Media Metrix does not correspond to the number of members we have in any given period.

Currently, our Web sites include JDate.com, AmericanSingles.com, BlackSingles.com and Relationships.com. We also operate several international Web sites and maintain operations in the United States, Israel and the United Kingdom. Information regarding the geographical source of our revenues can be found in Note 12 to our Consolidated Financial Statements included in this annual report. Membership on our sites is free and allows a registered user to post a personal profile and to access our searchable database of member profiles and customer service that is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The ability to initiate most communication with other members requires the payment of a monthly subscription fee, which represents our primary source of revenue. We also offer discounted subscription rates for members who subscribe for three, five, six and twelve-month periods. Our subscription programs renew automatically for subsequent one-month periods until paying subscribers terminate them.

For the year ended December 31, 2006, we had approximately 236,868 average paying subscribers, an increase of 10% over the year ended December 31, 2005.

Our Industry

We believe online personals fulfill significant needs for single adults looking to meet a companion or date. Traditional methods such as printed personals advertisements, offline dating services and public gathering places often do not meet the needs of single people. Printed personals advertisements offer individuals limited personal information and interaction before meeting. Offline dating services are time-consuming, expensive and offer a smaller number of potential partners. Public gathering places such as restaurants, bars and social venues provide a limited ability to learn about others prior to an in-person meeting. In contrast, online personals services facilitate interaction between singles by allowing them to screen and communicate with a large number of potential companions. With features such as detailed personal profiles, email and instant messaging, this medium allows users to communicate with other singles at their convenience and affords them the ability to meet multiple people in an anonymous, convenient and secure online setting.

Our Competitive Strengths

 

   

Strength of JDate Brand. We believe JDate with its strong brand recognition in the Jewish community is a valuable asset. We believe the strength of the JDate brand will continue to allow us to market to the Jewish community profitably while maintaining a high penetration rate. Because of the strength of the JDate brand, we are not required to spend as much on marketing JDate as we are on our other Web sites, or as much as others in the industry may spend on their personals Web sites.

 

   

Affinity-focused Communities. We believe singles are more likely to interact, find friends and form lasting relationships with like-minded individuals who share common values, beliefs, traditions and

 

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cultural upbringings. For this reason, the majority of our websites are targeted to specific religious, ethnic, geographic and special interest groups. We believe our targeted communities enjoy greater word-of-mouth recognition and consumer loyalty.

 

   

Web Site Functionality. We continually evaluate the functionality of our Web sites to improve our members’ online personals experience. Many of the features we offer, such as onsite emails, real-time chat rooms, instant messaging, anonymous calling, E-cards, and message boards increase the probability of communication between our members, which we believe increases the number and percentage of members who become paying subscribers. We believe this functionality drives return visits to our Web sites and helps retain paying subscribers who might otherwise consider switching to our competitors’ Web sites or not subscribing to any Web site.

 

   

Customer Service Focus. Our multi-lingual call center helps members with such matters as completing personal profiles and choosing photos for their profiles, as well as answering questions about billing and technical issues. We believe the quality of our customer service increases member satisfaction, which improves the number and percentage of members that become and remain paying subscribers.

Our Online Personals Services

Our online personals services offer single adults a convenient and secure setting for meeting other singles. Visitors to our Web sites are encouraged to become registered members by posting profiles. Posting a profile is a process in which visitors are asked various questions about themselves, including information such as their tastes in food, hobbies and desired attributes of potential partners. Members may also post photos of themselves. Members can perform detailed searches of other profiles and save their preferences, and their profiles can be viewed by other members. In most cases, for a member to initiate email and instant message communication with others, that member must purchase a subscription. A subscription affords access to the paying subscribers’ on-site email, instant messaging systems, message boards and chat rooms, enabling such subscribers to communicate with other members and paying subscribers. Our subscription fees are charged on a monthly basis, with discounts for longer-term subscriptions.

Our Web Sites. We believe we are a unique company in the online personals industry because, in addition to servicing mass markets, we operate Web sites targeted at specific religious, ethnic, geographic and special interest groups. We currently offer Web sites in English and Hebrew. Our key Web sites are as follows:

 

   

JDate.com. JDate was our first Web site and is dedicated to the Jewish community and culture, and those who are seeking to be part of it. The largest metropolitan area concentrations of JDate members are in New York, Los Angeles, Miami and Chicago.

 

   

AmericanSingles.com. AmericanSingles is our mainstream U.S. online personals community, targeted at an audience of singles between the ages of 25 and 49. The Web site caters to singles of all races, ethnicities and interests. AmericanSingles members are primarily concentrated in major metropolitan areas across the United States.

 

   

BlackSingles.com. BlackSingles.com is our Web site dedicated to the African-American community.

 

   

Relationships.com. Relationships.com is our Web site for the Christian community.

 

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Other Web sites:

 

AdventistSinglesConnection.com

  

Adventist singles

AsianSinglesConnection.com

  

Asian singles

BBWPersonalsPlus.com

  

Big beautiful women and admirers

CanadianPersonals.net

  

Canadian singles

CatholicMingle.com

  

Catholic singles

CollegeLuv.com

  

College singles

Cupid.co.il

  

Jewish singles (Israel only)

Date.ca

  

Canadian singles

DeafSinglesConnection.com

  

Deaf singles

GreekSinglesConnection.com

  

Greek singles

HurryDate.com

  

Rapid dating and offline events

IndianMatrimonialNetwork.com

  

Indian singles

InterracialSingles.net

  

Interracial singles

ItalianSinglesConnection.com

  

Italian singles

JDate.co.il

  

Jewish singles (Israel only)

JewishMingle.com

  

Jewish singles

LatinSinglesConnection.com

  

Latin singles

LDSMingle.com

  

Mormon singles

LDSSingles.com

  

Mormon singles

Date.co.uk

  

UK singles

MilitarySinglesConnection.com

  

Military singles

PrimeSingles.net

  

Mature singles

Schmooz-A-Palooza

  

Offline events

SingleParentsMingle.com

  

Single parents

UKSinglesConnection.com

  

UK singles

Web Site Features. We strive to offer traditional as well as new and different ways for our members to communicate. Examples of ways our members and paying subscribers can communicate include:

 

   

On-site Email. We provide all paying subscribers with private message centers, dedicated exclusively to communications with other paying subscribers. These personal on-site email boxes offer features such as customizable folders for storing correspondence, the ability to know when sent messages were read, as well as block and ignore functions, which afford a paying subscriber the ability to control future messages from specific paying subscribers.

 

   

Hot Lists and Favorites. Among the most popular features on our Web sites, “Hot Lists” enable paying subscribers to see who’s interested in them and to save those favorite members that they are interested in. Lists include (1) who has viewed your profile, (2) your favorites and (3) who has emailed you. Paying subscribers can group their favorites into customized folders and add their own notes, including details included in a member’s profile.

 

   

Message Boards. Another popular feature, Message Boards enable paying subscribers to communicate in a group environment with suggested topics for discussion.

 

   

Real-time Chat Rooms. Paying subscribers can utilize our exclusive chat rooms to mix and mingle in real-time, building a sense of community through group discussions. Additional features enable users to add customized graphics such as emoticons to their conversations.

 

   

Ice Breakers. Members can send pre-packaged opening remarks, referred to on the Web sites as “flirts” and “teases,” to other members or paying subscribers.

 

   

Click! Our patented Click! feature connects members who think they would be compatible with each other. A member simply clicks “yes,” “no” or “maybe” in another member’s profile. When two members click “yes” in each other’s profiles, our patented feature sends an email to both of them alerting them of a possible match.

 

6


Travel and Events. As a complement to our online services, we offer travel and other promotional events which allow individuals to meet in a more personal environment. Our travel and events are typically cruises, dinners, speed dating events or other mixers designed to facilitate social interaction. Less than 2% of our revenues for the year ended December 31, 2006 were generated from travel and events.

Business Strategy

We intend to grow revenue by driving additional traffic to our Web sites, increasing the number and percentage of our members who convert to paying subscribers, launching new or acquiring existing businesses in targeted, affinity-focused markets, implementing advertising sales on select websites and expanding our offline events.

Drive traffic. We believe there are significant opportunities to drive additional traffic to our Web sites through integrated and targeted marketing and cross-promotion into vertical affinity markets.

 

   

Integrated and targeted marketing. We believe targeting potential members with consistent and compelling marketing messages, delivered through a broad mix of marketing channels, will be effective in driving more traffic and a higher percentage of relationship-oriented singles to our Web sites. We intend to use a variety of channels to build our brands and increase our base of subscribers including online and offline advertising, customer relationship management tools, public relations, promotional alliances and special events.

 

   

Cross-promote into vertical affinity markets. Our large base of members provides us with a significant amount of consumer data to evaluate cross-promotion opportunities for growth into vertical affinity markets such as those acquired in the MingleMatch acquisition. We are able to analyze different groups of members by key metrics such as total potential subscribers and average revenue per paying subscriber and identify those targeted groups that may prefer a service dedicated to their particular affinity groups. We intend to target and cross-promote into vertical affinity markets that we believe are receptive to paid online personals and are large enough to attain a critical mass of members and paying subscribers.

Increase Conversion Rates. We believe a significant growth opportunity lies in our ability to convert more of our members into paying subscribers. We plan to achieve this increase in conversion by focusing on:

 

   

Improved member communications. We believe enhanced member communications is a key component to growing our business. We continue to focus on improving and enhancing our Web site functionality and features to encourage communications between members. Most of these communications require members become paying subscribers. We will also continue to inform members of new features and functions with the goal of increasing the number of visitors to our Web sites who become paying subscribers.

 

   

Improved technology. We believe the more successful members are in finding matches in our database, the more likely they are to want to communicate with those members. To initiate email and instant message communication or participate in the chat rooms or message boards, members must become paying subscribers. We intend to continue to enhance our technology and the quality and relevance of our search results to provide fast, relevant suggestions.

 

   

Leveraging strong customer service. Each time a member or potential members contacts our customer service center by email or phone, he or she represents a potential new paying subscriber to our services. By training our customer service representatives on upselling opportunities, we believe they will continue to be successful in selling our subscription-based services.

Extend into new affinity-focused markets. We constantly evaluate new opportunities in an attempt to identify new affinity-focused markets into which we may expand either organically or through acquisition. Our large base of members provides us with a significant amount of consumer data to evaluate opportunities for growth into such new markets and identify those target groups that may prefer a service dedicated to their particular affinity group. We intend to target affinity markets we believe are receptive to paid online personals and are large enough to attain a critical mass of members and paying subscribers.

 

7


Implement ad sales. We believe there is an opportunity for additional revenue from the sale of advertising on our Web sites. We expect advertisers will continue to seek highly targeted environments such as ours to complement their brands and reach a niche consumer. We intend to remain selective about our choices for advertising partners so as not to adversely affect the quality of our user experience. In addition, advertisers have voiced an interest in our ability to provide them with an offline presence at our various parties and events around the country.

Expand offline presence. We intend to expand upon our offline events offerings and offer a value proposition to our subscribers that is unique in the dating world. Our network provides increased distribution and promotion for our HurryDate and Schmooz-A-Palooza events offerings. In addition, we plan to expand JDate’s existing offline offering, which currently includes travel, parties and other activities, to include speed dating events. It is also our intention to offer our events to other communities across our network.

Customer Service

As of December 31, 2006, we employed 32 customer service representatives at our Beverly Hills, California facility, 27 representatives in Provo, Utah and 18 customer service representatives at our facility in Israel who serve our Hebrew-speaking members. Our team of customer service representatives helps members with matters such as completing personal essays and choosing photos for their profiles, as well as answering questions about billing and technical issues. Customer service representatives receive ongoing training in an effort to better personalize the experience for members and paying subscribers who call in and to capitalize on upselling opportunities.

Marketing

We engage in a variety of marketing activities intended to drive consumer traffic to our Web sites and to allow us the opportunity to introduce our products and services to prospective members. Our marketing efforts are principally focused online, where we employ a combination of banner and other display advertising on Web portals and other specialized sites. We also rely on commercial search listings and direct email campaigns to attract potential members and paying subscribers, and utilize a network of online affiliates, through which we acquire traffic. None of these affiliates individually represents a material portion of our revenue. These affiliate arrangements are easily cancelable, often with only one day notice. Typically, we do not have exclusivity arrangements with our affiliates, and some of our affiliates may also be affiliates for our competitors.

In addition to our current online marketing efforts, we supplement our online marketing by employing a variety of offline marketing activities. These include print and outdoor advertising, public relations, event sponsorship and promotional alliances. We believe that a more targeted marketing message, delivered through an array of available marketing channels, will improve consumer awareness of our brands, drive more traffic to our Web sites and, therefore, increase the numbers of our members and paying subscribers.

Technology

As of December 31, 2006, our software development and technology team consisted of 29 employees focused on expanding and improving the features and functionality of our Web sites. Throughout the year projects such as Message Boards and E-cards were successfully deployed using a mix of our Provo and Beverly Hills technologies. Since feature and functionality development is an important element of our strategy, we plan to expand this team. In addition to our new products, this group of employees maintains our software and hardware infrastructure.

Our network infrastructure and operations are designed to deliver high levels of availability, performance, security and scalability in a cost-effective manner. The majority of our software architecture is based on standard modular Microsoft technology, and is designed for maximum flexibility and scalability, which we believe facilitates the addition of new Web sites and features.

 

8


In late 2005 we completed a re-architecture of our primary system based on distributed Service Oriented Architecture principles using the Microsoft.Net platform. This re-architecture included changes to our server and network configurations, database schemas and deployment, web presentation methodologies and introduced a variety of new application services. We believe this new architecture has enabled us to more rapidly develop new capabilities and enhance our ability to scale our Web sites.

We operate Web and database servers co-located at a data center facility in Los Angeles, California operated by a third party.

Intellectual Property

We rely on a combination of patent, trademark, copyright and trade secret laws in the United States and other jurisdictions as well as confidentiality procedures and contractual provisions to protect our proprietary technology and our brands. We also enter into confidentiality and invention assignment agreements with our employees and consultants and confidentiality agreements with other third parties.

Spark Networks, JDate, AmericanSingles and BlackSingles.com are some of our trademarks, whether registered or not, in the United States and several other countries. AmericanSingles, BlackSingles.com and JDate are registered trademarks in the United States. JDate is also a registered trademark in the EU, Australia, Israel and Canada. Spark Networks is a registered trademark in the United States and EU. Our rights to these registered trademarks are perpetual as long as we use them and renew them periodically. We also have a number of other registered and unregistered trademarks. In addition, we hold two United States patents for our Click! application, the first of which expires January 24, 2017, that pertains to an automated process for confidentially determining whether people feel mutual attraction or have mutual interests. Click! is important to our business in that it is a method and apparatus for detection of reciprocal interests or feelings and subsequent notification of such results. The patents describe the method and apparatus for the identification of a person’s level of attraction and the subsequent notification when the feeling or attraction is mutual.

Competition

We operate in a highly competitive environment with minimal barriers to entry. We believe that the primary competitive factors in creating a community on the Internet are functionality, brand recognition, critical mass of members, member affinity and loyalty, ease-of-use, quality of service and reliability. We compete with a number of large and small companies, including vertically integrated Internet portals and specialty-focused media companies that provide online and offline products and services to the markets we serve. Our principal online personals services competitors include Yahoo! Personals, Match.com, a wholly-owned subsidiary of InterActiveCorp, and eHarmony, all of which operate primarily in North America. In addition, we face competition from social networking Web sites such as MySpace and Friendster. There are also numerous other companies offering online personals services that compete with us, but are smaller than we are in terms of paying subscribers and annual revenue generation.

Employees

As of December 31, 2006, we had 200 full-time employees. We are not subject to any collective bargaining agreements and we believe our relationship with our employees is good.

 

9


 ITEM 1A.     RISK FACTORS

You should carefully consider the risks described below together with all of the other information included in this report before making an investment decision. The risks described below are the material risks that we are currently aware of that are facing our company. In addition, other sections of this report may include additional factors that could adversely impact our business and operating results. If any of the following risks actually occurs, our business, financial condition or results of operations could be materially adversely affected. In that case, the trading price of our ordinary shares, in the form of ADSs, would decline and you may lose all or part of your investment.

Risks Related to Our Business

We have significant operating losses and we may incur additional losses in the future.

Although we were profitable in 2006, we have historically generated significant operating losses. As of December 31, 2006, we had an accumulated deficit of approximately $38.5 million. We had net income of approximately $6.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2006 and a loss of $1.4 million for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2005. We also had negative operating cash flow in 2004. We expect our operating expenses will continue to increase during the next several years as a result of the promotion of our services, the hiring of additional key personnel, the expansion of our operations, including the launch of new Web sites, and entering into acquisitions, strategic alliances and joint ventures. If our revenues do not grow at a substantially faster rate than these expected increases in our expenses or if our operating expenses are higher than we anticipate, we may not be profitable and we may incur additional losses, which could be significant.

Our limited operating history and relatively new business model in an emerging and rapidly evolving market make it difficult to evaluate our future prospects.

We derive nearly all of our net revenues from online subscription fees for our services, which is an earlystage business model for us that has undergone, and continues to experience, rapid and dramatic changes. As a result, we have very little operating history for you to evaluate in assessing our future prospects. You must consider our business and prospects in light of the risks and difficulties we will encounter as an early-stage company in a new and rapidly evolving market. Our performance will depend on the continued acceptance and evolution of online personal services and other factors addressed herein. We may not be able to effectively assess or address the evolving risks and difficulties present in the market, which could threaten our capacity to continue operations successfully in the future.

If our efforts to attract a large number of members, convert members into paying subscribers and retain our paying subscribers are not successful, our revenues and operating results would suffer.

Our future growth depends on our ability to attract a large number of members, convert members into paying subscribers and retain our paying subscribers. This in turn depends on our ability to deliver a highquality online personals experience to these members and paying subscribers. As a result, we must continue to invest significant resources in order to enhance our existing products and services and introduce new high-quality products and services that people will use. If we are unable to predict user preferences or industry changes, or if we are unable to modify our products and services on a timely basis, we may lose existing members and paying subscribers and may fail to attract new members and paying subscribers. Our revenue and expenses would also be adversely affected if our innovations are not responsive to the needs of our members and paying subscribers or are not brought to market in an effective or timely manner.

Our subscriber acquisition costs vary depending upon prevailing market conditions and may increase significantly in the future.

Costs for us to acquire paying subscribers are dependent, in part, upon our ability to purchase advertising at a reasonable cost. Our advertising costs vary over time, depending upon a number of factors, many of which are

 

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beyond our control. Historically, we have used online advertising as the primary means of marketing our services.

In general, the costs of online advertising have recently increased substantially and we expect those costs to continue to increase as long as the demand for online advertising remains robust. If we are not able to reduce our other operating costs, increase our paying subscriber base or increase revenue per paying subscriber to offset these anticipated increases, our profitability will be adversely affected.

In addition, our costs to acquire subscribers may increase if we raise prices on our websites as potential customers may be slower or more reluctant to purchase higher price services and website access.

Competition presents an ongoing threat to the performance of our business.

We expect competition in the online personals business to continue to increase because there are no substantial barriers to entry. We believe our ability to compete depends upon many factors both within and beyond our control, including the following:

 

   

the size and diversity of our member and paying subscriber bases;

 

   

the timing and market acceptance of our products and services, including the developments and enhancements to those products and services relative to those offered by our competitors;

 

   

customer service and support efforts;

 

   

selling and marketing efforts; and

 

   

our brand strength in the marketplace relative to our competitors.

We compete with traditional personals services, as well as newspapers, magazines and other traditional media companies that provide personals services. We compete with a number of large and small companies, including Internet portals and specialty-focused media companies that provide online and offline products and services to the markets we serve. Our principal online personals services competitors include Yahoo! Personals, Match.com, a wholly-owned subsidiary of InterActiveCorp, and eHarmony, all of which operate primarily in North America. In addition, we face competition from social networking Web sites such as MySpace and Friendster. Many of our current and potential competitors have longer operating histories, significantly greater financial, technical, marketing and other resources and larger customer bases than we do. These factors may allow our competitors to respond more quickly than we can to new or emerging technologies and changes in customer requirements. These competitors may engage in more extensive research and development efforts, undertake more far-reaching marketing campaigns and adopt more aggressive pricing policies that may allow them to build larger member and paying subscriber bases than ours. Our competitors may develop products or services that are equal or superior to our products and services or that achieve greater market acceptance than our products and services. These activities could attract members and paying subscribers away from our Web sites and reduce our market share.

In addition, current and potential competitors are making, and are expected to continue to make, strategic acquisitions or establishing cooperative and, in some cases, exclusive relationships with significant companies or competitors to expand their businesses or to offer more comprehensive products and services. To the extent these competitors or potential competitors establish exclusive relationships with major portals, search engines and Internet service providers, or ISPs, our ability to reach potential members through online advertising may be restricted. Any of these competitors could cause us difficulty in attracting and retaining members and converting members into paying subscribers and could jeopardize our existing affiliate program and relationships with portals, search engines, ISPs and other Web properties.

 

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Our efforts to capitalize upon opportunities to expand into new vertical affinity markets may fail and could result in a loss of capital and other valuable resources.

One of our strategies is to expand into new vertical affinity markets to increase our revenue base. We view vertical affinity markets as identifiable groups of people who share common interests and the desire to meet companions or dates with similar interests, backgrounds or traits. Our planned expansion into such vertical affinity markets will occupy our management’s time and attention and will require us to invest significant capital resources. The results of our expansion efforts into new vertical affinity markets are unpredictable, and there is no guarantee that our efforts will have a positive effect on our revenue base. We face many risks associated with our planned expansion into new vertical affinity markets, including but not limited to the following:

 

   

competition from pre-existing competitors with significantly stronger brand recognition in the markets we enter;

 

   

our improper evaluations of the potential of such markets;

 

   

diversion of capital and other valuable resources away from our core business;

 

   

foregoing opportunities that are potentially more profitable; and

 

   

weakening our current brands by over expansion into too many new markets.

If we fail to keep pace with rapid technological change, our competitive position will suffer.

We operate in a market characterized by rapidly changing technologies, evolving industry standards, frequent new product and service announcements, enhancements and changing customer demands. Accordingly, our performance will depend on our ability to adapt to rapidly changing technologies and industry standards, and our ability to continually improve the speed, performance, features, ease of use and reliability of our services in response to both evolving demands of the marketplace and competitive service and product offerings. There have been occasions when we have not been as responsive as many of our competitors in adapting our services to changing industry standards and the needs of our members and paying subscribers. Our industry has been subject to constant innovation and competition. Historically, new features may be introduced by one competitor, and if they are perceived as attractive to users, they are often copied later by others. Over the last few years, such new feature introductions in the industry have included instant messaging, message boards, ecards, personality profiles, and mobile content delivery. Introducing new technologies into our systems involves numerous technical challenges, substantial amounts of capital and personnel resources and often takes many months to complete. We intend to continue to devote efforts and funds toward the development of additional technologies and services. For example, in 2005 and 2006 we introduced a number of new Web sites and features, and we anticipate the introduction of additional Web sites and features in 2007 and 2008. We may not be able to effectively integrate new technologies into our Web sites on a timely basis or at all, which may degrade the responsiveness and speed of our Web sites. Such technologies, even if integrated, may not function as expected.

Our business depends on establishing and maintaining strong brands and if we are not able to maintain and enhance our brands, we may be unable to expand or maintain our member and paying subscriber bases.

We believe that establishing and maintaining our brands is critical to our efforts to attract and expand our member and paying subscriber bases. We believe that the importance of brand recognition will continue to increase, given the growing number of Internet sites and the low barriers to entry for companies offering online personals services. To attract and retain members and paying subscribers, and to promote and maintain our brands in response to competitive pressures, we intend to substantially increase our financial commitment to creating and maintaining distinct brand loyalty among these groups. If visitors, members and paying subscribers to our Web sites and our affiliate and distribution associates do not perceive our existing services to be of high quality, or if we introduce new services or enter into new business ventures that are not favorably received by such parties, the value of our brands could be diluted, thereby decreasing the attractiveness of our Web sites to such parties. As a result, our results of operations may be adversely affected by decreased brand recognition.

 

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We may have potential liability under California state and federal securities laws with respect to the grant of share options to certain of our employees, directors and consultants and the exercise of these options.

Under our 2000 Executive Share Option Scheme (“2000 Option Scheme”), we granted options to purchase ordinary shares to certain of our employees, directors and consultants. California state securities laws generally require qualification for the offer and sale of securities subject to California law. Under California law, the grant of an option constitutes a sale of the underlying shares at the time of the option grant and not at the exercise of the option. Our option grants were not qualified and may not have been exempt from qualification under California state securities laws. As a result, we may have potential liability to those employees, directors and consultants to whom we granted options under the 2000 Option Scheme. In order to address that issue, we may elect to make a rescission offer to the holders of outstanding options under the 2000 Option Scheme to give them the opportunity to rescind the grant of their options.

As of December 31, 2006, assuming every eligible optionee were to accept a rescission offer, we estimate the total cost to us to complete the rescission would be approximately $1.3 million including statutory interest at 7% per annum. These amounts reflect the costs of offering to rescind the issuance of the outstanding options by paying an amount equal to 20% of the aggregate exercise price for the entire option.

In addition, issuances of securities upon exercise of options granted under our 2000 Option Scheme may not have been exempt from registration and qualification under California state securities laws as a result of the option grants themselves and also may not have been exempt from registration under federal securities laws. Federal securities laws prohibit the offer or sale of securities unless the sales are registered or exempt from registration. The issuances of ordinary shares upon the exercise of our options were not registered and may not have been exempt from registration under California state and federal securities laws. As a result, we may have potential liability to those employees, directors and consultants to whom we issued securities upon the exercise of these options. In order to address that issue, we may elect to make a rescission offer to those persons who exercised all, or a portion, of those options and continue to hold the shares issued upon exercise, to give them the opportunity to rescind the issuance of those shares (“Option Shares”).

As of December 31, 2006, assuming every eligible person that continues to hold the securities issued upon exercise of options granted under the 2000 Option Scheme were to accept a rescission offer, we estimate the total cost to us to complete the rescission would be approximately $8.1 million including statutory interest at 7% per annum, accrued since the date of exercise of the options. These amounts are calculated by reference to the acquisition price of the Option Shares.

A holder could argue that this process does not represent an adequate remedy for issuance of an option and securities issued upon exercise of an option in violation of California state or federal securities laws and, if a court were to impose a greater remedy, our financial exposure could be greater. In addition, it is the Securities and Exchange Commission’s position that a rescission offer will not bar or extinguish any liability under the Securities Act of 1933 with respect to these options and shares, nor will a rescission offer extinguish a holder’s right to rescind the issuance of securities that were not registered or exempt from the registration requirements under the Securities Act of 1933. If any or all of the holders reject or fail to respond to our rescission offer, the holders will keep their options and securities and we may continue to be liable under federal and California state securities laws for up to an amount equal to the value of the options and securities granted or issued plus any statutory interest we may be required to pay. Further, claims or actions based on fraud may not be waived or barred pursuant to a rescission offer and there can be no assurance that we will be able to enforce any waivers that we may receive in connection with the rescission offer in order to bar such claims or other causes of action until the applicable statute of limitations has run. In addition, despite a rescission offer, whether accepted or not, if it is determined that we offered securities without properly registering them under federal or state law, or securing an exemption from registration, regulators could impose monetary fines or other sanctions as provided under these laws.

 

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We do not intend to seek shareholder approval for a purchase of Option Shares until we have made a rescission offer which has been accepted by any one or more shareholders and it has become necessary to seek such approval.

In summary, in order to effectuate a rescission offer and repurchase any of our own shares upon any acceptances of the rescission offer, we must satisfy the following conditions: (1) obtain shareholder approval of our audited UK GAAP balance sheet for the year ended December 31, 2006; (2) obtain additional shareholder approval, as further discussed above, of any acceptances of the rescission offer to repurchase shares; and (3) have sufficient Distributable Reserves to repurchase shares subject to the rescission offer.

If we do not obtain the requisite shareholder approval of acceptances to a rescission offer or if we accumulate an additional deficit on our profit and loss account and we do not issue new shares for additional funds for a rescission offer, then we will not be able to effectuate a rescission offer.

We have terminated and no longer grant options under our 2000 Option Scheme, but options previously granted under the 2000 Option Scheme remain in full force and effect. We filed a registration statement on Form S-8 covering the issuance of future shares upon exercise of presently unexercised options under the 2000 Option Scheme. However, none of the shares (including shares underlying unexercised options) registered on the Form S-8 will be eligible for resale if they are tendered as part of the rescission offer.

If we are unable to attract, retain and motivate key personnel or hire qualified personnel, or such personnel do not work well together, our growth prospects and profitability will be harmed.

Our performance is largely dependent on the talents and efforts of highly skilled individuals. We have recently recruited many of our directors, executive officers and other key management talent, some of which have limited or no experience in the online personals industry. For example, Adam S. Berger, a director of our company, joined the management team as our new Chief Executive Officer in February 2007. Our General Counsel started work for us in April 2006. In addition, our co-founder and former Executive Chairman of the Board resigned from his executive duties in December 2005 and from our board of directors in July 2006, and the employment of our former Chief Technology Officer ended in April 2006. Because members of our executive management have only worked together as a team for a limited time, there are inherent risks in the management of our company with respect to decision-making, business direction, product development and strategic relationships. In the event that the members of our executive management team are unable to work well together or agree on operating principles, business direction or business transactions or are unable to provide cohesive leadership, our business could be harmed and one or more of those individuals may discontinue their service to our company, and we would be forced to find a suitable replacement. The loss of any of our management or key personnel could seriously harm our business. Furthermore, we have recently experienced significant turnover on our board of directors. We currently have nine members serving on our board of directors. On September 12, 2006, we added Mr. Berger, Jonathan B. Bulkeley, CEO of Scanbuy, Inc.; Christopher S. Gaffney, Co-founder and Managing Partner of Great Hill Partners; and Scott M. Sassa, CEO and Founder of W Cubed Media to our board of directors.

We may also encounter difficulties in recruiting personnel as we become a more mature company in a competitive industry. Competition in our industry for personnel is intense, and we are aware that our competitors have directly targeted our employees. We do not have non-competition agreements with most employees and, even in cases where we do, these agreements are of limited enforceability in California. We also do not maintain any key-person life insurance policies on our executives. The incentives to attract, retain and motivate employees provided by our option grants or by future arrangements, such as cash bonuses, may not be as effective as they have been in the past. If we do not succeed in attracting necessary personnel or retaining and motivating existing personnel, we may be unable to grow effectively.

 

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Our inability to effectively manage our growth could have a materially adverse effect on our profitability.

We have experienced rapid growth since inception. The growth and expansion of our business and service offerings places a continuous significant strain on our management, operational and financial resources. We are required to manage multiple relations with various strategic associates, technology licensors, members, paying subscribers and other third parties. In the event of further growth of our operations or in the number of our third-party relationships, our computer systems or procedures may not be adequate to support our operations and our management may not be able to manage such growth effectively. To effectively manage our growth, we must continue to implement and improve our operational, financial and management information systems and to expand, train and manage our employee base. If we fail to do so, our management, operational and financial resources could be overstrained and adversely impacted.

Our growth rates may decline and our operating margins could deteriorate.

Our revenue growth rate has declined over the last couple of years as our net revenues increased to higher levels and as the growth of the online personals industry slowed. A February 2007 report by Jupiter Research found that the online personals industry grew 10% in 2006 as compared to 77% growth in 2003, and Jupiter expects the online personals industry to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 8% to reach $932 million in 2011. It is possible that our operating margins will deteriorate if revenue growth does not exceed planned increases in expenditures for all aspects of our business in an increasingly competitive environment, including sales and marketing, general and administrative and technical operations expenses.

Our business depends on our server and network hardware and software and our ability to obtain network capacity; our current safeguard systems may be inadequate to prevent an interruption in the availability of our services.

The performance of our server and networking hardware and software infrastructure is critical to our business and reputation, to our ability to attract visitors and members to our Web sites, to convert them into paying subscribers and to retain paying subscribers. An unexpected and/or substantial increase in the use of our Web sites could strain the capacity of our systems, which could lead to a slower response time or system failures. Although we have not yet experienced many significant delays, any future slowdowns or system failures could adversely affect the speed and responsiveness of our Web sites and would diminish the experience for our visitors, members and paying subscribers. We face risks related to our ability to scale up to our expected customer levels while maintaining superior performance. If the usage of our Web sites substantially increases, we may need to purchase additional servers and networking equipment and services to maintain adequate data transmission speeds, the availability of which may be limited or the cost of which may be significant. Any system failure that causes an interruption in service or a decrease in the responsiveness of our