Groupon's surprise Q4 loss shakes daily deals market

Groupon has reported an unexpected loss in the final quarter of 2011, suggesting a vulnerability in the worldwide daily deals market.

In the firm's first set of results since its listing on the US stock market, Groupon reported a net loss of $42.7m (£27m), when analysts had been expecting a small profit.

This was also despite revenue increasing 194% to $506.5 million in the final three months of 2011, compared to $172.2 million in the same period in 2010.

Gross billings, which reflects the gross amounts collected from customers for Groupons sold, excluding any taxes and refunds, increased 201% to $1.25 billion in the quarter, compared with $415.3m the previous year.

The company's net loss for the whole of 2011 was $350.8m, although that was down from $456.3m in 2010.

Groupon went public on the New York stock market last November, attracting a valuation of $12.7bn (£8.1bn), although its share price fell sharply shortly after.

Shares in the company tumbled 13% in after-hours trading yesterday to $21.35, although that was still above the listing price of $20.

"Groupon had a strong fourth quarter and we finished 2011 having helped 250,000 local merchants across 47 countries grow their businesses while saving Groupon customers billions of dollars," said Andrew Mason, the chief executive and co-founder of Groupon.

"We will continue to invest in new services and tools that help our merchant partners be more successful and drive local commerce around the world."

The number of people who purchased a Groupon in the fourth quarter of 2011 increased to 33m, up by 20% on the preceding three months.

But analysts are concerned that the firm is not demonstrating enough growth in regular customers.

Sameet Sinha at B. Riley and Company told BBC News: "The number of active customers came in short. That means not enough people are buying Groupons.

"Yes, you can get fewer people to buy more, but how long can that continue? You need to start investing in new customer growth."

Groupon blamed the fourth quarter loss on $34.8m of tax expenses in some of its international businesses, saying that it is paying an "effective tax rate of approximately 1600%".

It also said that the cost was down to "additional income tax provisions related to the establishment of the company's international headquarters in Switzerland".

Groupon is also currently under investigation by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) after the firm broke UK advertising regulations 48 times in less than a year.

> Groupon falls foul of UK advertising watchdog again