Groupon announces first quarter 2012 results

Groupon, Inc. announced financial results for the first quarter 2012. Revenue increased 89% to $559.3m in the first quarter 2012, compared with $295.5m in the first quarter 2011.

Gross billings, which reflects the gross amounts collected from customers for Groupons sold, excluding any applicable taxes and net of estimated refunds, increased 103% to $1.35bn in the first quarter 2012, compared with $668.2m in the first quarter 2011.

Operating income was $39.6m in the first quarter 2012, which includes an expense of $28.0m related to non-cash stock-based compensation. This compares with a loss from operations of $117.1m in the first quarter 2011, which included stock-based expense of $18.9m.

“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 of Groupon.

Highlights
• Strong consumer and merchant satisfaction. Groupon commissioned ForeSee, a leading market research firm, to assess merchant and customer satisfaction using their standard methodology. Groupon’s March 2012 U.S. consumer satisfaction score of 83 places the Company among the highest surveyed and within approximately 2 points of the 5-year #1 average satisfaction score for online retailers. Groupon’s March 2012 U.S. merchant satisfaction score of 79 also ranks high, considerably above the B2B benchmark of 64 and the Fortune 500 score of 69.

• New customer milestone. As of March 31, 2012, Groupon surpassed the 35 million active customer mark, ending the quarter with 36.9 million active customers, an increase of 140% year-over-year.

• New merchant milestone. The first quarter 2012 marked the first time that more than 100,000 unique merchants were served in a single quarter. In addition, in the first quarter, more than 50% of offers were with merchants who had previously run on Groupon.

• Increased leverage from marketing spend. In the first quarter 2012, approximately the same number of customers were added as in the fourth quarter 2011, while marketing spend decreased by 25%. At the same time, the number of repeat purchasers grew 1.5 times faster than the number of unique purchasers.

“Groupon Middle East has been a contributing factor to the global growth of Groupon Inc. Operational since March 2011, Groupon UAE has conquered the market with incredible daily offers on the best things to experience, see, eat and buy in the Emirates. Within the past 14 months, Groupon UAE has grown to over 60 employees, has featured over one thousand local merchants and has presented deals to a subscriber base of over 1.6 million people. Groupon has also emerged as the most popular group buying website in the UAE and has overtaken all competitors in website traffic and visits. Everyone at Groupon UAE is incredibly proud that the quarterly results serve as evidence for the sustainability, the popularity and the potential of Groupon’s business model. We look forward to continue enhancing our site, expanding within the region and offering our customers the best deals combined with the best service,” Alexander Kappes, CEO Groupon Middle East.