Groupon Narrows Its Loss After String of Disappointing Results

The company also reported that its net loss in the first quarter narrowed from a year earlier.

Shares of Groupon jumped 10.6 percent, or 59 cents, to $6.18 in after-hours trading.

Groupon said its first-quarter revenue rose 7.5 percent, to $601.4 million, from $559.3 million a year earlier. Groupon was expected to generate revenue of $590 million, according to analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters.

The company posted a net loss of $4 million, or 1 cent a share, in the latest quarter, compared with a net loss of $11.7 million, or 2 cents a share, a year earlier.

Consolidated segment operating income, a closely watched measure of Groupon’s profitability, came in at $51.2 million in the latest period. Mark Mahaney, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets, was expecting this figure to be about $26 million.

Groupon’s North American revenue jumped 42 percent, while international revenue fell 18 percent.

“Revenues were slightly better than expected, with North America growth a lot better, while international is definitely still slower,” said Aaron Kessler, an analyst at Raymond James.

The company, one of the most celebrated Internet market debutantes of 2011, fired Andrew Mason, its co-founder and chief executive, in February after a string of disappointing results wiped out three-quarters of its market value. Groupon, which has lost several other key executives, is seeking a new permanent chief executive.

Ted Leonsis, the company’s interim co-chief executive, said on Wednesday that Groupon’s board had formed a special committee that had begun a search for a new chief.

Groupon’s current leadership team is “gelling very very nicely,” giving the search committee more time to find “the ideal long-term C.E.O.,” Mr. Leonsis said in a conference call with analysts and investors.

Groupon shares hit a record low late last year, but have rallied strongly since then, partly because Tiger Global, a top technology-focused hedge fund firm, took a stake of about 10 percent in the company.

Under Mr. Leonsis, and his counterpart, Eric Lefkofsky, Groupon is trying to turn around its struggling European business, while continuing to expand in the United States. Analysts expect a slimmed-down company under the new leadership.

Trade Deficit Narrows as Exports Increase

The gap between exports and imports shrank to $43 billion in February, down 3.4 percent from a revised $44.5 billion in January, the Commerce Department said on Friday. It was the smallest trade imbalance since December, when the gap had declined to $38.1 billion, the lowest point in nearly three years.

Exports rose 0.8 percent, to $186 billion, close to the record set in December. Stronger exports of energy products and autos offset declines in sales of airplanes and farm equipment.

Imports were flat at $228.9 billion, with the volume of crude oil falling to the lowest point since March 1996.

The deficit with China shrank to $23.4 billion, the lowest point in 11 months. Exports to the European Union were down 0.9 percent in February, compared with January.

Through the first two months of this year, the United States deficit is running at an annual rate of $524.5 billion, down slightly from the $539.5 billion imbalance last year.

Economists expect the deficit this year will narrow slightly, in part because of continued gains in energy exports. A narrower trade gap lifts growth because it means American companies are earning more from overseas sales while domestic consumers and businesses are spending less on foreign products.

The economy as measured by the gross domestic product grew at an annual rate of 0.4 percent in the October-December quarter. Economists say they believe economic growth strengthened in the January-March quarter to around 3 percent.

In addition to increases in energy exports, economists are hopeful that exports of other products will rise this year as well, helped by stronger growth in some major export markets.

That forecast is based on an assumption that the European debt crisis will stabilize, helping lift exports to that region, and that growth in Asia will rebound further. The outlook for Europe has been clouded recently by problems in Cyprus and new worries that the debt troubles could destabilize more countries.

U.S. Current-Account Deficit Narrows for Third Quarter

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