Eric Lefkofsky and Ted Leonisis, the interim chief executive officers of Groupon Inc (NASDAQ:GRPN) indicated that the company is unlikely to appoint a permanent CEO until next year.
According to the interim CEOs, the daily-deals company is in the process of finding the right executive to assume the position permanently, and it is not in a hurry to hire a new leader.
“We are not in a rush. We are just starting the process. We want to bring in a world-class leader, but the talent pool is not huge. You probably won’t see a new leader until the new year,” stated Leonsis during an interview with the Wall Street Journal.
Lefkosky and Leonsis, who also serve as executive chairman and vice chairman of Groupon Inc (NASDAQ:GRPN) respectively, assumed roles as interim CEOs after Andrew Mason resigned from his position after committing consecutive mistakes and disappointing financial performance.
Mason co-founded the daily-deals company with Leftkofsky and Brad Keywell in 2008. Groupon Inc (NASDAQ:GRPN) sells deeply discounted products and services to its 42 million active subscribers. The company went public in 2011 with an offering price of $20 per share. Over the past 52-week range, the stock value of the company plummeted to as low as $2.60 per share.
Since the ouster of Mason, the stock price of Groupon Inc (NASDAQ:GRPN) recovered by more than 50 percent. The stock is trading around $7.18 per share, up by 4.65 percent around noon on Thursday in New York.
Last week, the daily-deals company reported positive results with $0.03 earnings per share on $601.4 million revenue, an 8 percent increase compared with its $559.3 million revenue a year earlier. Groupon said its mobile performance went up by 45 percent and 7 million people downloaded its apps during the quarter. Its operating income was $21.2 million.
Lefskofsky and Leonsus concentrated on improving the company’s mobile technology since they started to assume the responsibilities vacated by Mason. According to Leftkofsky, its mobile customers spend 50 percent more with Groupon Inc (NASDAQ:GRPN) compared with its desktop customers.
Groupon Inc (NASDAQ:GRPN) aims to transform its business strategy from sending e-mails regarding discounts to its subscribers by encouraging them to visit its website and use its mobile apps and find all the discounted products and services available.
During the interview, Leftkofsky emphasized that Groupon Inc (NASDAQ:GRPN) is a local commerce company when he was asked if it is still a daily-deals site. He said, “The daily deal is synonymous with a blast email. And more and more of our business has migrated from email.”
