The largest daily-deal website, Groupon's financial results fell short of Wall Street's expectations as it reported a net loss of $2.98 million in the third quarter amid slowing revenue growth. Groupon also confirmed in a statement that it has laid off about 80 employees from sales team.
"Groupon announced several months ago it would be using technology to increase productivity through automation," a company spokesperson said in a statement. "This week we reduced the sales team by approximately 80 members as part of that effort. We will always aim to optimize business operations wherever opportunities are identified."
Rumors about possible layoffs were making the rounds for a while and the company had a total headcount of 12,820 employees at the end of the second quarter.
Although the Chicago-based company reported gains in its North American business, it posted a quarterly net loss of $2.98 million or zero cents per common share compared with a net loss of $54.2 million, or 18 cents a share, in the same period last year. Revenue was 568.6 million, a 32 percent year-over-year increase, but it was well below the company's own forecast of $580 million to $620 million.
Groupon shares fell to an all-time low in after-hours trading on Thursday after the quarterly results were announced. The daily deals company, which has lost 80 percent of its value since holding an initial public offering a year ago, has failed to turn around its struggling European business.
