Expedia Q2 Profit Rises - Update

(RTTNews) - Online travel company Expedia Inc. (EXPE), Thursday said its second-quarter profit increased from last year, as more customers sought its sites to book hotel rooms and airline tickets, with both earnings and revenues coming in ahead of Wall Street analysts.

Bellevue, Washington-based Expedia's second-quarter profit improved to $89.4 million or $0.67 per share from $71.5 million or $0.51 per share last year.

Excluding special charges, adjusted earnings for the quarter were $137.6 million or $1.03 per share, up from $90.5 million or $0.64 per share last year. On average, 24 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $0.76 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Expedia's revenue for the second quarter grew 24 percent to $1.49 billion from $1.21 billion last year. Analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $1.44 billion for the quarter.

Second-quarter gross bookings increased 29 percent from last year, driven largely by strong hotel room night and air ticket growth. Domestic bookings increased 35 percent, while international bookings increased 21 percent.

Room nights growth improved to 24 percent from 19 percent last year driven by Brand Exepedia including the Travelocity-branded websites, Hotels.com and eLong, while revenue per room night dropped 4 percent.

Air revenue increased 22 percent due to a 28 percent increase in air tickets sold, partially offset by a 5 percent decrease in revenue per ticket.

Selling and marketing expenses rose to $743.6 million from $590.5 million last year, while costs for technology and content increased to $169.1 million from 140.7 million last year.

EXPE closed Thursday's trading at $79.42, down $2.26 or 2.77%, on the Nasdaq. The stock, however, is currently up $3.09 or 3.89% in after-hours trade.