Groupon, via Associated Press
Groupon, the daily deals site.
8:04 p.m. | Updated
Groupon, the daily deals site, seemed a bit less like a deal on Wednesday.
In its first earnings release as a public company, Groupon reported a fourth-quarter loss of $9.8 million on an adjusted basis, disappointing investors, who drove its shares down sharply in after-hours trading.
Still, by other measures, the Internet company showed continued strong growth. Revenue for the quarter jumped 194 percent, to $506.5 million, from the quarter a year ago, surpassing analysts’ forecasts.
From the time Groupon first sought to go public, its story has been built on enormous growth, as it raced to acquire a daunting customer base.
The company now claims to have 33 million active users worldwide — those who have bought at least one deal over the last year — up more than 20 percent from a year ago.
“This quarter’s results show that our model is just starting to demonstrate leverage — and that Groupon is the clear leader in our space,” said Jason Child, Groupon’s chief financial officer.
Yet the company was also cautious in guiding investors on revenue for the first quarter, forecasting revenue of just $510 million to $550 million. And while the company has continued to trim its marketing expenses over the last year, to $256,000, its nonmarketing costs climbed to $247.4 million.
In a conference call after the earnings report, Andrew Mason, Groupon’s chief executive and co-founder, pointed to “strong repeat purchase behavior within our customer base.”
“While we are still investing aggressively in growth, our paid marketing continues to become more efficient,” he said.
In after-hours trading, shares of Groupon fell 13 percent. Since it went public in November at $20 a share, the stock has gained 23 percent.
The fourth-quarter loss, which amounts to 2 cents a share, is down sharply from the $185 million loss for the quarter a year ago. The company cited an unusually high tax rate for some of its overseas operations.
The pro-forma figures exclude certain accounting charges, like stock-based compensation. On a basis of generally accepted accounting principles, Groupon lost $42.7 million for the quarter.
The company also said that it had turned an operating profit of $15 million, its first in nearly two years.