Trivago announced financial results for the quarter and full year ended December 31, 2017.
Highlights
* Total revenue increased to €181.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2017, or 7% year-over-year, compared to €169.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2016, and increased to €1,035.4 million in the full year ended December 31, 2017, compared to €754.2 million for the same period in 2016, representing a 37% increase year-over-year.
* The number of Qualified Referrals increased to 139.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2017, or 14% year-over-year, compared to 122.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2016, and increased to 727.1 million in the full year ended December 31, 2017, compared to 535.3 million for the same period in 2016, or 36% year-over-year.
* Net loss in the fourth quarter of 2017 was €9.6 million compared to net income of €0.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2016, while the full year 2017 net loss decreased to €13.0 million compared to €51.4 million for the same period in 2016.
* Adjusted EBITDA was a loss of €8.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2017, compared to positive adjusted EBITDA of €11.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2016, and positive adjusted EBITDA of €6.7 million in the full year ended December 31, 2017, compared to €28.2 million in the full year ended December 31, 2016.
Financial Summary & Operating Metrics (€ millions)
As of December 31, 2017, it offered access to more than 1.8 million hotels and other types of accommodation in over 190 countries.
In the fourth quarter of 2017, selling and marketing expense grew to €165.8 million, of which €149.7 million, or 90%, was advertising expense. The increase was driven by higher advertising spend across all regions with €53.6 million, €51.3 million and €44.8 million spent in Americas, Developed Europe and RoW, respectively, compared to €46.4 million, €46.1 million and €31.8 million, respectively, spent in the fourth quarter of 2016. Selling and marketing expense was 91% of revenues in the fourth quarter of 2017, up from 81% in the fourth quarter of 2016.
Net loss attributable to trivago N.V. of €9.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2017 reflected an increase of our operating expenses relative to our revenues as well as our inability to reduce planned television advertising spend due to commitments in some markets, which resulted in lower ROAS as described above. ROAS was also negatively affected by lower commercialization, increased advertiser testing activities and an increase in advertising spend. The decrease in ROAS also affected adjusted EBITDA, which was €(8.7) million in the fourth quarter of 2017, compared to €11.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2016.
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash were €190.3 million as of December 31, 2017, compared to €228.2 million as of December 31, 2016.
Referral Revenue by Segment & Other Revenue (€ millions)
Referral Revenue in the fourth quarter of 2017 increased to €65.8 million and €41.5 million in Americas and Rest of World (RoW), or by 5% and 35%, respectively, while it decreased to €69.9 million, or by 4%, in Developed Europe, as compared to the same period in 2016.
Referral Revenue for the full year ended December 31, 2017, increased by 37%, 22% and 84% year-over-year in Americas, Developed Europe and RoW, respectively. These increases were due to strong advertising spend and the positive revenue effect during the first half of 2017 following the introduction of our relevance assessment.
Other Revenue grew by 59% and 81% in the fourth quarter and in the full year ended December 31, 2017, respectively, as compared to the same periods in 2016.
Ownership of trivago N.V. as of December 31, 2017
