Groupon Inc. (NASDAQ: GRPN) shares surged in after-hours trading on Monday after the Chicago-based company posted a quarterly profit. GRPN managed to post a profit for the quarter by slashing marketing spending and signing up more customers and merchants.
Groupon shares rose 17.94% to $13.84 in after-hours trading on Monday. Earlier in regular trading, the stock had gained 18.54% to finish the day $11.73.
For the first quarter ended March 31, 2012, Groupon reported revenue of $559.3 million, representing an increase of 89% over the same period in the previous year. GRPN’s revenue in North America rose 75% on a year-over-year basis. The growth in North America was partly due to technology innovations such as deal personalization that GRPN plans to introduce to the majority of its international operations by the end of 2012.
Gross billings surged 103% to $1.35 billion in the first quarter of 2012. Gross billings reflect the gross amounts collected from customers for Groupons sold, excluding any applicable taxes and net of estimated refunds. GRPN ended the quarter with 36.9 million active customers, representing an increase of 140% over the same period in the previous year.
GRPN’s operating income for the first quarter ended March 31 was $39.6 million, compared with loss from operations of $117.1 million reported for the same period in the previous year.
On a non-GAAP basis, GRPN reported earnings of $0.02 per share, compared with a loss of $0.41 per share reported for the first quarter of 2011.
Andrew Mason, CEO of Groupon, said that he is pleased to report a record quarter that demonstrates the company’s progress in unlocking the opportunity in local commerce for merchants and customers worldwide.
For the second quarter of 2012, Groupon expects revenue to come in between $550 million and $590 million, which represents an increase of 40%-50% over the second quarter of 2011. Income from operations for the second quarter is expected to be between $25 million and $45 million, compared with loss from operations of $101 million reported in the second quarter of 2011.
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