Groupon，最大的团购网站。日前自爆在财务控制上有重大缺陷，由于高额的退货费用，2011年第四季度的营业额也大不如从前。
Groupon最近一次的营业收入，减少了1430万美元，降至4.922亿美元，上个月收入为5.065亿美元。
这份声明对Groupon来说，是又一打击。自从2011年6月IPO以来，Groupon就一直致力于完善公司的财务管理。招股书发布两个月后，经过证监会的审核，Groupon放弃了有争议的核算方法。随后Groupon又重新修改了2010年的营业额，因为当时Groupon把每天的营业额当做是营业收入，其中包括付给商家的费用。
Evercore Partners公司，这是一家与Groupon具有同等股票市场地位的公司，其分析师Ken Sena表示，这在一定程度上弥补了公开声明给他们带来的负面影响。
声明发表之后，Groupon在延长交易中的股价下降5.9%，降至17.29美元每股。Groupon的股票自从去年11月份的IPO以来，下降了8.1%，在最近刚刚上涨3.8%。
丰厚的利润
尽管Groupon的IPO之路充满了颠婆和曲折，但是在接受彭博通讯社的采访中，Groupon CEO莱夫科夫斯基（Eric Lefkofsky）表示，Groupon的盈利甚为可观。2011年7月份，Groupon修改了IPO申请文件，告诉投资者忽略那些言论，因为这些言论所表达的观点并不准确，完善。
Groupon表示，3月30日发表的声明主要与公司的退款储备收益紧密联系，退款储备收益直接影响还款利率。声明中总结说，Groupon公司内部存在着一系列的缺点，其实公司已经在与一家会计事务所合作研究解决问题，并且在今年年底解决这些问题。虽然Groupon的独立审计事务所是安永会计事务所，但是Groupon正在与另一家事务所合作。
Groupon Inc. (GRPN) (GRPN), the largest provider of daily deals online, reported a “material weakness” in its financial controls and said fourth-quarter results were worse than previously stated because of higher refunds to merchants.
The revisions reduced revenue in the period by $14.3 million to $492.2 million, the Chicago-based company said yesterday in a regulatory filing. Groupon had reported $506.5 million last month.
The announcement marks another setback for Groupon, which has struggled to get its financial statements in order since filing for an initial public offering in June. Two months after its prospectus, the company abandoned a controversial accounting method for operating income after a review by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Groupon then restated 2010 results in September because it had counted the total amount of its daily- deal sales as revenue, including fees paid to merchants.
“This feeds some of the negative sentiment around their disclosure,” said Ken Sena, an analyst at Evercore Partners Inc. in New York, who has an equalweight rating on Groupon shares.
Groupon shares (GRPN) fell 5.9 percent to $17.29 in extended trading yesterday after the announcement. The stock, down 8.1 percent since the IPO in November, had climbed 3.8 percent earlier in the day.
‘Wildly Profitable’
Groupon also stumbled ahead of its IPO when Chairman Eric Lefkofsky said the company is “going to be wildly profitable” in an interview with Bloomberg News. In July, the company updated its IPO filing, asking investors to disregard those comments because they didn’t accurately or completely reflect his views.
The changes announced yesterday are “are primarily related to an increase to the company’s refund reserve accrual,” leading to higher reimbursement rates, Groupon said. In response to the conclusion that the company’s internal controls contained a material weakness, Groupon said it’s been working for several months with an accounting firm and will report on the effectiveness of those controls by the end of the year. While Groupon’s independent auditor is Ernst & Young LLP, the company said it’s working with a different accounting firm.
