Despite booming revenues of $559.3m (up 89% year on year) in the first quarter 2012, the company is still in the red producing a net loss of $3.6m. This is still a large improvement on Q1 2011’s loss of $113.9m. Its shares jumped 18.5% on the news to $11.73 (at the time of print).
"We are pleased to report a record quarter that demonstrates our progress in unlocking the opportunity in local commerce for merchants and customers worldwide," said Andrew Mason, CEO.
Groupon claims that it has now surpassed the 35 million active customer mark, ending the quarter with 36.9 million active customers, an increase of 140% year-over-year. The quarter also saw the company serve 100,000 unique merchants in a single quarter, and jump of 50%.
Mobile has been a key driver for the company. In April 2012, 30% of North American transactions were completed on mobile devices, compared with 25% in December 2011.
The company, an internet darling over the past few years, fawned over by investors and host to multiple imitiators from industry giants such as Facebook, Amazon and Google, made its IPO in June. However, this was riddled in controversy when investors claimed its IPO filings were misleading and falsely stated its profits. The company was forced to reissue its numbers.
It appears to be still using confusing numbers, listing its ‘operating income’ as a $39.6 million profit, compared to a an operating loss of $117.1 million this time last year – playing down the aforementioned net loss overall.
Its IPO was valued as high as $25bn at one point, but was revised down to $10-11bn. Its market capitalisation currently is just $7.48bn.
Supporters claim that the company is a victim of its own success – critics accuse it of questionable accounting and a questionable business model. The spawn of imitators has turned the company’s offering into the equivalent of junk email, and merchants who once swarmed to the company are now claiming they are not making any money, and reputations are suffering as a result.
The company is projecting revenues of between $550m and $590m for the next quarter.
