by Source of Article on February 9, 2012
8 February 2012
Last updated at 17:32 ET
Groupon shares launched on Nasdaq on 4 November 2011
Daily voucher company Groupon has reported an unexpected loss.
In its first set of results since listing on Nasdaq stock exchange in November, Groupon reported a net loss of $42.7m (£27.0m), when a small profit had been expected.
The loss for the last three months of 2011 compares with a loss of $378.6m in the same period of 2010.
Shares in the company fell 13% in after-hours trading to $21.35, still above the listing price of $20.
The number of people who bought a Groupon in the fourth quarter rose to 33 million, which was up 20% from the third quarter, but still below expectations.
“The number of active customers came in short. That means not enough people are buying groupons,” said Sameet Sinha at B. Riley and Company.
“Yes, you can get fewer people to buy more, but how long can that continue? You need to start investing in new customer growth.”
The net loss for the whole of 2011 was $350.8m, down from $456.3m in 2010.
Groupon blamed the fourth quarter loss on $34.8m of tax expenses in some of its international businesses, where it said it had paid an effective tax rate of approximately 1,600%.
It also said that it had made extra provisions for income tax after establishing its international headquarters in Switzerland.
Article source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/business-16957704
by Zagros on February 9, 2012
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A few months ago economists were all but certain the U.S. economy would slow sharply at the start of this year, with many warning that recession risks were growing.
That pessimism has been shaken off by a string of surprisingly solid data that paint a picture of an economy with building momentum.
The jobs market is picking up, manufacturing is accelerating and the service sector is also flexing its muscle – good news for President Barack Obama, who faces an election battle in November.
“We were among those people that had been expecting growth to slow. It now seems a lot less likely,” said Jeremy Lawson, an economist at BNP Paribas in New York.
Read more http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Fears-U-S-slowdown-fade-reuters-452853939.html?x=0
by Zagros on February 9, 2012
Euro Strengthens to Two-Month High as Greece Signals Confidence in Bailout
The euro rose to two-month highs versus the dollar and yen after a Greek government official signaled confidence the currency bloc’s finance ministers will approve a second financing accord for the debt-strapped nation.
The common currency extended its gain against the yen to a third day after Greek politicians debated budget cuts needed to secure the bailout with a dispute remaining over pension cuts. The European Central Bank meets today to set monetary policy. The Dollar Index (DXY) touched the lowest in two months as Asian stocks erased drops, sapping demand for a haven.
“The market thinks they’ll patch together some sort of deal,” said Tim Kelleher, head of institutional foreign- exchange sales in Auckland at ASB Institutional, a unit of Commonwealth Bank of Australia, referring to Greece. “The market still appears to be very short euros as a speculative position, so that’s one of the reasons why it’s not going down.” A short position is a bet a currency will depreciate.
Read more http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-08/euro-declines-as-greek-leaders-fail-to-agree-on-pension-cuts-for-bailout.html