Home > > Priceline.com Reports Financial Results for 4th Quarter and Full-Year 2009

Priceline.com Reports Financial Results for 4th Quarter and Full-Year 2009

02/18/2010| 2:09:36 PM| 中文

NORWALK, Conn., Feb 17, 2010 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Priceline.com Incorporated (Nasdaq: PCLN) today reported its financial results for the 4th quarter and full year 2009.

Gross travel bookings for the 4th quarter, which refers to the total dollar value, inclusive of all taxes and fees, of all travel services purchased by consumers, were $2.26 billion, an increase of 52.9% over a year ago.

Priceline.com had revenues in the 4th quarter of $541.8 million, a 33.4% increase over a year ago. The Company´s international operations contributed revenues in the 4th quarter of $222.9 million, a 74.9% increase versus a year ago (approximately 63% on a local currency basis). Priceline.com´s gross profit for the 4th quarter was $313.2 million, a 52.7% increase from the prior year. The Company´s international operations contributed gross profit in the 4th quarter of $222.1 million, a 75.5% increase versus a year ago (approximately 63% growth on a local currency basis). The Company´s operating income in 4th quarter 2009 was $117.9 million, a 141.4% increase from the prior year. Priceline.com had GAAP net income for the 4th quarter of $78.5 million or $1.55 per diluted share, which compares to $34.1 million or $0.75 per diluted share in the same period a year ago.

Pro forma EBITDA for the 4th quarter 2009 was $133.2 million, an increase of 75% over the prior year. Pro forma net income in the 4th quarter was $101.6 million or $1.99 per diluted share, compared to $1.29 per share a year ago. First Call analyst consensus for the 4th quarter 2009 was $1.68 per diluted share. The section below entitled "Non-GAAP Financial Measures" provides a definition and information about the use of pro forma financial measures in this press release and the attached financial and statistical supplement reconciles pro forma financial information with priceline.com´s financial results under GAAP.

For full-year 2009, priceline.com had revenues of $2.34 billion, a 24.1% increase over 2008. Priceline.com´s gross profit for 2009 was $1.26 billion, a 31.9% increase from the prior year. The Company´s 2009 operating income was $470.8 million, a 62.7% increase from the prior year. Priceline.com had GAAP net income for full-year 2009 of $489.5 million or $9.88 per diluted share, which compares to $182.2 million or $3.74 per diluted share in 2008. GAAP net income for 2009 was positively affected by a $183.3 million non-cash tax benefit from reversing a portion of the valuation allowance related to the Company´s net operating loss carry forwards. The valuation allowance was reversed to reflect the amount of deferred tax asset that is estimated to be more likely than not to be realized after taking into consideration current operating results and future estimated taxable income. Pro forma EBITDA for 2009 was $547.7 million, an increase of 45.1% over a year ago. Pro forma net income for 2009 was $425.2 million or $8.52 per diluted share, compared to $5.96 per share a year ago.

"Worldwide gross travel bookings growth accelerated in the 4th quarter due to strong underlying fundamentals, weak results in the prior year period amidst the global recession and improving currency and ADR comparisons," said priceline.com´s President and Chief Executive Officer Jeffery H. Boyd. "Hotel room nights booked grew 59.9% on a global basis, representing share gains for Booking.com, priceline.com and Agoda.com. Our international business grew gross travel bookings at 81% (69.5% in local currency) as it continued to benefit from geographic expansion, increased hotel supply and consumer shift to online bookings. Domestic gross bookings grew 20.6% in the quarter and the business seems well positioned to compete in an environment where pricing is more stable and where our competition will soon anniversary the conversion benefit of matching priceline.com´s fee cut initiatives."

Looking forward, Mr. Boyd said, "Throughout 2010, we intend to maintain our focus on building our global hotel platform and strengthening our brands by adding hotel supply, expanding in attractive geographic markets, pursuing integration opportunities and adding content and innovative functionality. The business continues to perform well as economic conditions have stabilized; however, we do expect growth rates to decelerate going forward, particularly in the second half, as we begin to compare against periods of relatively stronger business performance."

Priceline.com said it was targeting the following for 1st quarter 2010:
• Year-over-year increase in total gross travel bookings of approximately 42% - 48%.
• Year-over-year increase in international gross travel bookings of approximately 65% - 73% (an increase of approximately 56% - 64% on a local currency basis).
• Year-over-year increase in domestic gross travel bookings of approximately 10% - 15%.
• Year-over-year increase in revenue of approximately 23% - 27%.
• Year-over-year increase in gross profit of approximately 50%.
• Pro forma EBITDA of approximately $97 million to $107 million.
• Pro forma net income of between $1.54 and $1.64 per diluted share.

Pro forma guidance for the 1st quarter 2010:
• excludes non-cash amortization expense of acquisition-related intangibles,
• excludes non-cash stock-based compensation expense,
• excludes non-cash interest expense and gains or losses on debt extinguishment, if any, related to cash settled convertible debt,
• excludes non-cash income tax expense and reflects the impact on income taxes of certain of the pro forma adjustments,
• excludes the impact, if any, of charges or benefits associated with judgments, rulings and/or settlements related to hotel occupancy tax proceedings,
• includes the anti-dilutive impact of the "Conversion Spread Hedges" (see "Non-GAAP Financial Measures" below) on diluted common shares outstanding related to outstanding convertible notes, and
• includes the dilutive impact of additional shares of unvested restricted stock, restricted stock units and performance share units because pro forma net income has been adjusted to exclude stock-based compensation.

In addition, pro forma EBITDA excludes depreciation and amortization expense and includes the impact of foreign currency transactions and other expenses.

When aggregated, the foregoing adjustments are expected to increase pro forma EBITDA over GAAP net income by approximately $50 million in the 1st quarter 2010. In addition, the foregoing adjustments are expected to increase pro forma net income over GAAP net income by approximately $25 million in the 1st quarter 2010. On a per share basis, the Company estimates GAAP net income of approximately $1.04 to $1.14 per diluted share for the 1st quarter 2010.

About Priceline.com(R) Incorporated

Priceline.com Incorporated (Nasdaq: PCLN) www.priceline.com provides online travel services in 32 languages in over 90 countries in Europe, North America, Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Included in the priceline.com family of companies is Booking.com, a leading international online hotel reservation service, priceline.com, a leading U.S. online travel service for value-conscious leisure travelers, and Agoda.com, an Asian online hotel reservation service. Priceline.com believes that Booking.com is Europe´s largest and fastest growing online hotel reservation service. Booking.com operates in 76 countries in 25 languages and offers its customers access to approximately 78,000 participating hotels worldwide.

In the U.S., priceline.com gives customers more ways to save on their airline tickets, hotel rooms, rental cars, vacation packages and cruises than any other Internet travel service. In addition to getting great published prices, leisure travelers can narrow their searches using priceline.com´s TripFilter advanced search technology, customize their search activity through priceline.com´s Inside Track features, create packages to save even more money, and take advantage of priceline.com´s famous Name Your Own Price(R) service, which can deliver the lowest prices available. Priceline.com operates the following travel websites: Travelweb.com, Lowestfare.com, RentalCars.com and BreezeNet.com. Priceline.com also licenses its business model to independent licensees.


 

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