Despite gaining 33 million new active customers in the fourth quarter, Groupon Inc. still isn’t profitable. The daily deal operator’s first earnings release as a public company showed a $42.7 million net loss in the fourth quarter as sales nearly tripled.

For the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, Groupon reported:

• Total sales increased 194.1% to $506.5 million, compared with $172.2 million in 2010.
• North American sales of $188.5 million, a 113.2% jump from $88.4 million a year earlier.
• International sales of $318.0 million, a 279.0% increase from $83.9 million in 2010.
• A net loss of $42.7 million, compared with a loss of $378.6 million in 2010.
• Gross billings, which reflects the gross amount collected from Groupon customers for Groupon vouchers sold, excluding applicable taxes and refunds, were $1.25 billion, a 201.0% spike from $415.3 million in 2010.

For the full year, Groupon reported:

• Total sales increased 417.7% to $1.62 billion, compared with $312.9 million in 2010.
• North American sales of $643.8 million, a 221.3% increase from $200.4 million a year earlier.
• International sales of $980.9 million, a 771.9% increase from $112.5 million in 2010.
• A net loss of $350.8 million, compared with a loss of $456.3 million in 2010.
• Gross billings were $4.0 billion, a 436.7% jump from $745.3 million in 2010.

“We finished 2011 having helped 250,000 local merchants across 47 countries grow their businesses while saving Groupon customers billions of dollars,” says Andrew Mason, CEO and co-founder of Groupon. “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.”