Today Groupon reported its fourth quarter financial performance, including revenue of $638.3 million, and earnings per share of -$0.12. Analysts had expected revenue of $640 million, and earnings per share of $0.03.
At the end of its third quarter, Groupon had anticipated revenue to fall between $625 million and $675 million. In normal trading, Groupon was up nearly 8 percent. In after hours trading, the company has fallen more than 20%.
Groupon’s net loss in the quarter was a painful $81.1 million. Groupon, however, does have a bank of cash and equivalents of over $1.2 billion.
Gross billings for the fourth quarter $1.52 billion, up 24% on a year-over-year basis. The $638.3 million figure was a 30% rise year-over-year. International revenue for the quarter was $263 million, which was down from $312 million in the year ago quarter.
Groupon has rebounded from recent market lows. Its stock has doubled from its lowest point, at which roughly 90% of its public value had been incinerated. The company did take a blow when it retained current CEO Andrew Mason. Some investors had hoped for his ouster. However, a surprise investment from a hedge fund provided fresh confidence.
The 💜 of EU tech
The latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol' founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It's free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now!
Among the bad news out today are two points that may give Groupon fans some hope that 2013 could be a better year for the firm: its customer acquisition costs on a per-new-customer basis are down 61% year-over-year, and its total active customer base is up 22% compared to last year.
2012
The company had full year revenue of $2.33 billion in 2012, up 45% when compared to 2011. For the same time frame, Groupon’s operating cash flow slipped 8% to $266.8 million. Final net loss for the year was $67.4 million.
This was a bad, painful quarter for Groupon. It had forecasted a profit. It failed to deliver.
Top Image Credit: TechCrunch
Get the TNW newsletter
Get the most important tech news in your inbox each week.