BELLEVUE, Wash.—Oct. 27, 2011—Expedia, Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPE) today announced financial results for our third quarter ended September 30, 2011.
.Revenue grew 15% for the quarter driven by strong growth at Hotels.com. and Expedia. Affiliate Network as well as 26% growth in advertising and media revenue.
.During the quarter, we achieved a key milestone in our Expedia brand platform migration through an on-time implementation of the new end-to-end hotel product. The new technology is already showing conversion improvements and driving faster innovation cycles.
. For the nine months ended September 30, 2011, free cash flow totaled $1.1 billion – an increase of 28% compared to the prior year period.
. Year-to-date, we repurchased 10 million common shares for an aggregate purchase price of $265 million excluding transaction costs.
Financial Summary & Operating Metrics (figures in $MMs except transactions and per share amounts)
|
Metric |
Three Months Ended 9.30.11 |
Three Months Ended 9.30.10 |
Y / Y Growth |
|
Transactions (mm) |
19.8 |
18.1 |
9% |
|
Gross bookings |
7,616.5 |
6,891.6 |
11% |
|
Revenue |
1,140.8 |
987.9 |
15% |
|
Operating income before amortization* (―OIBA‖) |
316.7 |
293.7 |
8% |
|
Operating income |
289.4 |
276.8 |
5% |
|
Adjusted net income * |
218.0 |
196.9 |
11% |
|
Net income attributable to Expedia, Inc. |
209.5 |
176.6 |
19% |
|
Adjusted EPS * |
$0.77 |
$0.68 |
13% |
|
Diluted EPS |
$0.75 |
$0.62 |
21% |
|
Free cash flow * |
(59.2) |
(35.8) |
65% |
Discussion of Results – Consolidated Expedia, Inc.
Revenue & Revenue Margins
Revenue increased 15% (12% excluding foreign exchange) for the third quarter, primarily driven by an increase in hotel revenue and advertising and media revenue. Domestic revenue increased 8% while international revenue increased 26% (19% excluding foreign exchange). International revenue equaled $503 million, representing 44% of worldwide revenue compared to 40% in the prior year.
Profitability
OIBA for the third quarter increased 8% (3% excluding foreign exchange) to $317 million due to increased revenue, partially offset by increased expenses, as described above. OIBA decreased 197 basis points as a percentage of revenue to 28% due to growth in general and administrative expenses, technology and content expenses, as well as selling and marketing expenses in excess of revenue growth. General and administrative expenses included a $12 million increase in legal costs and related reserves, which negatively impacted OIBA in the third quarter of 2011.
Operating income increased 5% primarily due to the same factors impacting OIBA. Operating income for third quarter 2011 includes approximately $4 million in costs related to the planned spin-off of TripAdvisor Media Group later this year.
Product & Services Detail
As a percentage of total worldwide revenue in the third quarter of 2011, hotel accounted for 68%, advertising and media accounted for 13%, air accounted for 8% and all other revenue sources accounted for the remaining 11%. Merchant revenue equaled 68% of revenue in the third quarter, and remained relatively consistent with the prior year period.
Recent Highlights
Global Presence
. The joint venture between Expedia and AirAsia officially rolled out the first of its travel sites under the structure announced earlier this year. Expedia sites introduced AirAsia content to travelers in the Philippines, Japan, South Korea, India, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia and Hong Kong. The joint venture experienced promising triple digit year-over-year growth in room nights since its launch on July 1.
. Expedia launched localized sites in Brazil and the Philippines extending its global reach to 25 countries worldwide.
. Hotels.com broadened its WelcomeRewards. loyalty program to more than 40 new countries including Brazil, China, France, Germany, and Japan, making WelcomeRewards available through all Hotels.com sites worldwide.
. Hotwire. launched travel booking sites in Australia, Denmark, New Zealand, Norway and Sweden, extending Hotwire’s deeply discounted hotel booking rates to travelers in nine countries across the globe.
Traveler Value Proposition and Innovation
. Egencia introduced an iPhone app which provides business travelers with easy access to itineraries, destination and flight alerts, and flight schedules, and includes online check-in and click-to-call functionality.
. As a result of localization efforts, Expedia Hotels was the #1 free travel app for the iPhone in Japan, Italy, Nicaragua, Egypt, Colombia, Uzbekistan, Guatemala, Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Uruguay, Russia, Argentina, Honduras, Peru, Pakistan, Ecuador and Vietnam. It is featured in the Apple App Store in 164 countries.
. Hotels.com launched an interactive hotel booking app for iPad users, featuring an intuitive booking flow and functionality that allows users to review hotel content and reviews with one swipe. Since launch, the app has been downloaded over 65,000 times and featured on the new and noteworthy app lists in North America, the United Kingdom and Australia.
Media, Advertising and Distribution
. Expedia Affiliate Network (EAN) signed agreements to power travel bookings for a number of key international online travel companies, including Norway-based Restplass.no; French online travel agency (OTA) Amplitudes.com; and leading Australian OTAs Webjet and Check-in. EAN also grew its presence in Asia Pacific, establishing partnerships with Japanese OTAs F-Ness; ENA Travel; and JALAN.Net, as well Korean online retailer 11th Street.
. Expedia. Media Solutions, the advertising sales division of Expedia, began using TravelAds search data to showcase consumer search trends to U.S. hotel partners. The information provides insights into the top-searched U.S. destinations among travelers on Expedia sites. TravelAds enables properties to quickly leverage exposure to travelers and capture increased demand through targeted TravelAds campaigns.
. TripAdvisor announced partnerships with several rail providers across continental Europe, including Deutsche Bahn and Rail Europe, to make train travel schedules and information available to consumers through the TripAdvisor Flights metasearch engine.
. TripAdvisor joined with navigation services provider TomTom to make TripAdvisor traveler reviews and opinions available on the new TomTom Go Live navigation device travel app. This enhancement gives travelers access to TripAdvisor hotel, restaurant, and attractions reviews along their route. TripAdvisor also announced a collaboration with Fodor’s to make TripAdvisor hotel recommendations available in Fodor’s 2012 guidebooks and on Fodors.com, giving travelers a complete hotel snapshot to guide their decision making.
Supply Portfolio
.Expedia Partner Services Group (PSG) signed multiyear partnership agreements with United Air Lines and Continental Airlines, subsidiaries of United-Continental Holdings Corporation; Copa Airlines, a major Latin American carrier based in Panama; Saudi Arabian Airlines, one of the world’s largest airlines; and Norwegian Air, Europe’s third-largest low cost carrier. PSG also announced the expansion of its global operations, opening a new office in Cape Town, South Africa.
. At quarter end, Expedia global websites featured almost 145,000 bookable properties, with over 55% operating under our merchant model and 28% representing agency properties where we have direct relationships. Expedia sites offer over 89,000 hotels in EMEA and APAC countries.
