Groupon's Quarterly Loss More Than Triples on Spending Rush

Groupon Inc.'s first-quarter loss more than tripled as the company known for daily discount deals continued to spend heavily to attract shoppers to its online marketplace.

The spending surge, which Groupon expects to start paying off by 2017, drove the Chicago company to an adjusted loss for the first three months of the year.

Shares, which have lost more than one-third of their value over the past 12 months, edged down 0.7% to $4.40 in after-hours trading.

Groupon raised its projection for adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization for the year. It now projects $85 million to $135 million in adjusted Ebitda, compared with its earlier view of $80 million to $130 million.

It affirmed its revenue guidance of $2.75 billion to $3.05 billion.

Separately, Groupon named Michael Randolfi as its next chief financial officer. Mr. Randolfi, a one-time Delta Air Lines executive, most recently served as Orbitz Worldwide's CFO. He succeeds Brian Kayman, who had held the post on a temporary basis.

Under the terms of his contract, Mr. Randolfi, who took over the post Monday, will make $425,000 in base salary and received a $200,000 sign-on bonus along with restricted stock.

Groupon is shutting down operations around the world as it restructures its business to focus on the U.S. and Canada, in the latest period, it reported nearly $16 million in restructuring- and acquisition-related costs in the latest period.

Over all, Groupon reported a loss of $49.1 million, or 8 cents a share, compared with a loss of $14.3 million, or 2 cents a share, a year earlier. Excluding stock-based compensation and other items, Groupon reported a loss of a penny a share, compared with a year-earlier profit of 3 cents a share.

Revenue, which excludes the share of each transaction that goes to merchants, fell to $732 million, a 2% decline, or 0.6% when adjusted for currency conversions.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters had projected an adjusted loss of 2 cents a share on $718.4 million in revenue.

The number of active customers, those who have made a purchase within the past 12 months, rose to 49.4 million in the latest period, compared with 48.9 million in the previous quarter and 48.1 million in the year-ago period.

Gross billings, which Groupon defines as sales, less taxes and refunds, were $1.47 billion, down 5% from the year-ago period or 3% when adjusted for currency conversions.

Billings rose 4.8% in North America but fell 15% in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and 28% in its "rest of world" segment.

Through Thursday's close, the stock has risen 65% in the past three months.

Write to Maria Armental at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 28, 2016 18:15 ET (22:15 GMT)

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