Groupon revenue jumps 7%, helped by mobile

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Groupon reported revenue growth that topped expectations, lending credence to the deals site's new mobile-centric strategy.

With its core, daily deals business model in steep decline over the past year, the Chicago-based company in recent months has re-invented itself as a more traditional e-commerce business that sells long-term deals through its smartphone app. Shares of the company have risen roughly 80 percent since January 1.

After the earnings announcement, the company's shares gained more than 18 percent in extended-hours trading. (Click here to get the latest quote.)

"We significantly exceeded our operating income expectations, and delivered our strongest quarter ever in North America, due in part to accelerated billings growth of 30 percent," Groupon CEO Eric Lefkofsky said.

Groupon also announced a $300 million share repurchase program and tapped Lefkofsky, who had been interim CEO, to lead on a permanent basis.

The company reported a net loss of $7.6 million, or 1 cent a share, compared to net income of $28.4 million, or 4 cents a share, reported in the year-earlier period.

Excluding items, earnings fell to 2 cents a share from 8 cents a share in the year-earlier period.

Revenue increased 7.2 percent to $609 million from $568 million a year ago.

Analysts had expected Groupon to report earnings excluding items of 2 cents a share on $606 million in revenue, according to a consensus estimate from Thomson Reuters.

The number of vouchers and products sold before cancellations increased 15 percent globally to 46 million. In North America this number jumped 45 percent.

More than 7.5 million people downloaded a Groupon mobile app worldwide in the quarter. The total number of downloads is now more than 50 million.