Expedia Profit Tops Estimates On Bookings; Stock Up

(RTTNews) - Online travel company Expedia Inc. (EXPE), Thursday reported a better-than-expected increase in fourth-quarter profit, as more customers sought its sites to book hotel rooms and for other services, while the prior-year quarter included some one-time charges.

Following the announcement, Expedia shares touched a new yearly high - climbing 14 percent at $74.47 on the Nasdaq.

Bellevue, Washington-based Expedia posted quarterly net income of $95 million or $0.70 per share, compared with $6.7 million or $0.05 per share last year.

Results for the prior-year quarter included costs of $112 million related to legal reserves, occupancy tax and other expenses.

Excluding items, adjusted earnings for the quarter were $125 million or $0.92 per share, compared with $89 million or $0.63 per share in the prior year.

On average, 25 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $0.86 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Revenues for the fourth quarter climbed 18 percent to $1.15 billion from $975 million a year ago. Twenty-two analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $1.14 billion for the quarter.

During the quarter, gross bookings grew 21 percent year-over-year, led by room night growth at eLong, Brand Expedia and Hotels.com. Domestic bookings increased 19 percent and international bookings increased 24 percent.

While average daily room rates were essentially flat year-over-year, average airfares rose by 1 percent. Air tickets sold grew by 13 percent.

Meanwhile, room nights jumped 25 percent from last year while revenue per room night slid 9 percent.

Last August, Expedia, facing stiff competition, joined forces with rival Travelocity to share the load on searches, bookings and promotion.

Expedia's ranking in Google Inc.'s (GOOG) search results fell sharply last month following allegations that the company had been faking its rankings.

Expedia stock closed Thursday at $65.14, up $1.21 or 1.89%, on a volume of 5.2 million shares. In after hours, the stock gained $9.33 or 14.32% at $74.47. In the past year, the stock has traded in the range of $45.69 - $72.19.