NORWALK, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Priceline.com Incorporated (Nasdaq: PCLN - News) today reported its financial results for the 3rd quarter 2007. Gross travel bookings for the 3rd quarter, which refers to the total dollar value, inclusive of all taxes and fees, of all travel services purchased by consumers, rose 54.0% year-over-year to $1.39 billion.
Priceline.com had GAAP revenues in the 3rd quarter of $417.3 million, a 33.1% increase over a year ago. Priceline.com’s GAAP gross profit for the 3rd quarter was $202.3 million, a 63.8% increase from the prior year. Priceline.com had GAAP net income for the 3rd quarter 2007 of $104.4 million or $2.27 per diluted share, which compares to $47.8 million or $1.05 per diluted share in the same period a year ago.
“Priceline.com’s over-performance in the 3rd quarter was driven by a combination of what we believe to be continued market-leading growth in our Booking.com international business and strong quarterly results from our domestic product lines,” said priceline.com President and Chief Executive Officer Jeffery H. Boyd. “Despite increasingly challenging quarterly comparables, Booking.com recorded a 97.9% increase in gross travel bookings compared to a year ago. Booking.com’s team has been very effective in growing its business throughout Europe and in the U.S. and other international markets.”
Mr. Boyd continued, “During the 3rd quarter, priceline.com’s domestic gross travel bookings increased by 19% on increasing merchant hotel and rental car sales and a 23% increase in airline ticket sales principally tied to our no-booking-fee promotion. Despite the loss of margin on retail ticket sales, year-over-year domestic operating margins were up substantially.”
Forward Guidance
Priceline.com said it was targeting the following for 4th quarter 2007:
· Year-over-year increases in overall gross travel bookings of approximately 50%.
· Year-over-year increases in gross travel bookings from Booking.com of approximately 90% to 95%.
· Year-over-year increase in pro forma revenue of approximately 22% to 26%.
· Year-over-year increase in pro forma gross profit of approximately 50%.
· Pro forma net income of between $0.77 and $0.85 per diluted share.
When aggregated, the foregoing adjustments are expected to increase pro forma net income over GAAP net income by approximately $12 million for the 4th quarter 2007. On a per share basis, the Company estimates GAAP net income of approximately $0.51 to $0.59 per diluted share for the 4th quarter 2007.
About Priceline.com® Incorporated
Priceline.com Incorporated (Nasdaq: PCLN - News) operates priceline.com, a leading U.S. online travel service for value-conscious leisure travelers, and Booking.com, a leading international online hotel reservation service.
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, create packages to save even more money, and take advantage of priceline.com’s famous Name Your Own Price® service, which can deliver the lowest prices available.
Priceline.com believes that Booking.com is Europe’s largest and fastest growing hotel reservation service, with a network of affiliated Web sites. Booking.com operates in 60 countries in 16 languages and offers its customers access to approximately 38,000 participating hotels worldwide.
Priceline.com also operates the following travel websites: Travelweb.com, Lowestfare.com, RentalCars.com and BreezeNet.com.
