Groupon Inc. GRPN is changing up its leadership, with Dusan Senkypl, the co-founder of Pale Fire Capital and a member of Groupon’s board, taking on the role of interim chief executive effective immediately. He replaces Kedar Deshpande, who has stepped down from his CEO and director posts but plans to advise the company for 60 days to help with its transition. “Since he joined the Board, Dusan has been very engaged as a director, providing important oversight on Groupon’s strategy and strengths and helping the company identify areas in need of improvement,” Chairman Ted Leonsis said in a Friday morning release. “Given this, we believe that he will seamlessly transition into this new leadership role and help the company execute against and continue to refine the supply-led transformation strategy we announced during our fourth quarter earnings call.” Groupon shares were ahead more than 6% in premarket trading Friday. The stock has tumbled 61% so far this year as the S&P 500 SPX has advanced more than 5%.
Shares of Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment Inc. CSSE plunged 30.3% toward a record low in premarket trading Friday, after the Redbox, Crackle, and Chicken Soup for the Soul streaming services operator’s public stock offering price priced at a deep discount. The company said the public offering, which was announced late Thursday, was for 4.69 million shares that priced at $2.30, and for expected gross proceeds of $10.8 million. The pricing was 28.1% below Thursday’s closing price of $3.20. The company also reported a wider-than-expected fourth-quarter loss while revenue topped forecasts. The stock’s record low close was $2.50 on March 22. It had already tumbled 37.5% year to date through Thursday, while the S&P 500 SPX has gained 5.5%.
The terminal rate forecast from BNP Paribas was cut by a half point, to 5.25% from 5.75%. “The tightening of US financial conditions – and likely further tightening in lending standards and reduction in credit provision – raises the prospect that the Fed will have to do less with the policy rate, all else equal,” said economists from the French bank, who still expect a quarter-point increase in May.