The voucher company reported an unexpected loss in its first end-of-year results since going public last year. It raked in revenues of $506.5m (£319.7m) in the three months to 31 December, compared with $172.2m (£108.7) in the same period in the previous year, but made an operating loss of $42.3m (£26.7m).

Marketing spend was $156.5m (£98.8m) in the period, down from $200.9m (£126.2m) a year earlier, as the business looks to shore up future custom and increase the number of repeat customers using its services regularly.

The company says the loss comes from one-off investments made while establishing an international office in Switzerland. Groupon also claims to have increased active customers by 275% year on year to 33m.

CEO Andrew Mason, said, “We will continue to invest in new services and tools that help our merchant partners be more successful and drive local commerce around the world.”