$Kogan.com Ltd (KGN.AU)$ shares are having an eventful start to the week.

The online retailer's shares were up as much as 12% in early trade

However, they have now pulled back and are currently trading almost flat.

What's going on with Kogan shares?

Investors have been buying (and then selling) the company's shares this morning following the release of a mixed trading update.

According to the release, the company had a reasonably tough time during the fourth quarter largely due to its Mighty Ape and Marketplace segments.

For the three months ended 30 June, Kogan reported gross sales of $184.1 million, which is down 1.5% on the prior corresponding period.

This reflects gross sales growth of 7.4% for Products and 6.4% for Verticals, which was offset by a 14.6% decline in Marketplace sales and a 13.3% decline in Mighty Ape sales.

This ultimately led to quarterly revenue rising 0.2% year on year to $75.9 million and quarterly gross profit increasing just 3.8% to $31.8 million. The latter is far softer than its growth rates in previous quarters.

Adjusted EBITDA and EBIT rose at the quicker rates of 38.7% and 105.7%, albeit from a small base.

FY 2024 results

For FY 2024, this meant that gross sales were down 4.8% to $808.9 million.

However, thanks to improving margins, Kogan's gross profit was up 23.3% to $168.4 million and its adjusted EBIT swung from a $9.8 million loss to a $25 million profit.

Group active customers were 2,609,000 as at 30 June 2024, comprising 1,909,000 for Kogan.com and 700,000 for Mighty Ape. This is down from 2,660,000 at the end of March.

Heading the other way was its Kogan FIRST Subscribers, which lifted from 472,000 to 502,000.

Interestingly, the company has decided that it will no longer include regular updates on customer numbers and subscribers. It also intends to change both the scheduled frequency and content of its business updates.

Commenting on the company's performance, founder and CEO, Ruslan Kogan, said:

Cost of living pressures are driving customers to Kogan.com and we're working harder than ever to ensure we save our customers a lot of money. While Kogan FIRST Subscribers are saving a lot of money shopping online, they are also recognising that if their essential services like phone plan, electricity or NBN isn't with Kogan.com, then they're probably paying too much.

Having ended the financial year on a high, our team is thrilled to carry this momentum into FY25. We remain committed to consistently delivering even more remarkable value to our millions of customers every day.