Expedia net profit falls on costs, but bookings up

April 29, 2011 | Online Travel

First-quarter net profit slipped to $52 million from $59.4 million a year earlier. Revenue rose 15 percent to $822.2 million and topped the average forecast of $795.4 million. The company said its total costs rose 19 percent, and its selling and marketing expenses rose 22 percent.

In February, Expedia warned that investments in technology and marketing would pressure the bottom line in the first half. That came after it posted weaker-than-expected adjusted profit in the fourth quarter, despite higher sales and improvement in metrics of its fundamental performance.

In the latest period, gross bookings rose 10%, while transactions were up 8.2%. Worldwide hotel revenue was up 16%, with nights stayed climbed 15%. Air revenue also saw 6% increase, largely because of an 18% increase in revenue per ticket as ticket volume fell 10%.

Expedia posted a profit of $52 million, or 19 cents a share, from $59.4 million, or 20 cents a share, a year earlier. Excluding such items as stock-based compensation and legal reserves, among others, earnings fell to 25 cents a share from 26 cents.

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