Groupon’s Shares Soar 17% on Strong Sales
(Reuters) – Groupon reported a higher-than-expected quarterly profit, as strong sales in North America and restructuring of its businesses boosted margins.
The company’s shares , which have fallen 70% in the last 12 months, rose 17% in after-hours trading on Thursday.
The company exited 19 markets across the world last year to bolster its North American business.
Groupon has also stepped up its marketing efforts under new CEO Rich Williams, who replaced co-founder Eric Lefkofsky in November.
Gross billings, a key measure reflecting the gross amount collected from customers, rose 10.7% to $1.05 billion in North America, its biggest market.
The holiday shopping weekend was an important contributor to company’s strong quarter, interim CFO Brian Kayman told Reuters.
Groupon said in December its North American billings rose 41% from Black Friday through Cyber Monday.
The company, which unveiled a $150 million to $200 million marketing blitz in November, said the number of active users rose 3% to 48.9 million.
Groupon has also been offloading low-margin businesses such as consumer electronics.
The move helped the company raise its adjusted EBITDA forecast to $80 million-$130 million from $75 million-$125 million for 2016.
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Net loss attributable to Groupon was $46.5 million, or 8 cents per share, in the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, compared with a profit of $8.8 million, or 1 cent per share, a year earlier.
Excluding items, the company earned 4 cents per share, beating the average analyst estimate of a breakeven on a per-share basis.
Revenue rose 3.8% to $917.2 million, above analysts’ expectations of $845.9 million.
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