Groupon saw it share price drop almost 26% in afterhours trading on Wednesday. This followed the announced by the company of a loss for the most recent quarter that was wider than had been expected. The company also forecasted weaker growth for the coming months. The Chicago-based company has just finished a turbulent first year as a public entity, during that time, the company only reported one quarter that had a profit.
Groupon is having trouble increasing its sales. For the fourth quarter, Groupon’s net loss was $81.1 million, which was much wider than the loss it posted at yearend of $65.4 million. Revenue jumped 30% ending the quarter at $638 million. That figure was in line with company forecasts, but was lower than what Wall Street had expected.
Company woes have raised questions again about the future status of Groupon’s CEO Andrew Mason. Last year, the board at the company discussed possibly replacing Mason, said one person close to the situation.
Groupon’s stock continues to falter and Mason is having a hard time maintaining the confidence of the board, especially the company’s largest shareholder and its chairman Eric Lefkofsky. He and Mason have apparently had their disagreements in the past.
Groupon said it has forecasted sales for the current quarter from $560 million to $610 million. That forecast means sales will remain flat on the low end with a 9% increase on the high end. Wall Street analysts forecasted the current quarters’ sales to be $650 million. Company officials also projected results for the current quarter to be anywhere from a profit of $10 million down to a loss of $10 million.
