Expedia Q1 Loss Narrows - Update

(RTTNews) - Online travel company Expedia Inc. (EXPE), Thursday posted a smaller loss for the first quarter, as more customers sought its sites to book hotel rooms and airline tickets and last year's results weighed down by one-time charges. Earnings for the quarter topped Wall Street estimates by a penny, while revenues also trumped expectations.

Bellevue, Washington-based Expedia's first-quarter loss narrowed to $14.3 million or $0.11 per share from $104.2 million or $0.77 per share last year.

Excluding special charges, adjusted earnings for the quarter dropped to $21.5 million or $0.16 per share from $35.3 million or $0.25 per share last year. On average, 24 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to earn $0.15 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Expedia's revenues for the quarter grew 19 percent to $1.20 billion from $1.01 billion last year. Wall Street analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $1.18 billion for the quarter.

Expedia linked the revenue increase to growth in hotel, advertising and media revenues as well as on air ticket revenues.

First-quarter gross bookings increased 29 percent from last year, aided mainly by a room nights and air tickets growth. Domestic bookings increased 35 percent, while international bookings jumped 21 percent.

Room nights stayed jumped 24 percent driven by Brand Exepedia and Hotels.com, while revenue per room night slid 10 percent.

Air revenue increased 28 percent due to a 30 percent increase in air tickets sold, offset by a 2% decrease in revenue per ticket.

Selling and marketing expenses rose 26 percent, while costs for technology and content increased 12 percent.

EXPE closed Thursday's trading at $73.87, up $2.88 or 4.06%, on the Nasdaq. The stock, however, slipped $1.12 or 1.52% in after-hours trade.