Strong airline and hotel bookings have helped priceline.com Inc. double its quarterly profits in the fourth quarter, according to officials of the online travel company.
The Norwalk, Conn.-based company said its fourth-quarter net income rose to $5 million, or 12 cents a share, from $5.2 million to 6 cents a share, a year earlier.
Airline ticket unit bookings, which include retail and opaque (Name Your Own Price) grew 61% compared to the same period a year ago. Hotel room night bookings grew 51%. Rental car day bookings grew 16% over the same period the previous year.
Priceline said it earned 22 cents a share, which outpaced the average analyst estimate of 16 cents a share.
CEO Jeffrey Boyd told Reuters:
“Our retail airline ticketing business did better than we expected.”
One earning advantage for priceline.com was that last year they started offering customers the ability to book airline tickets on specific carriers with exact itineraries. Said Mr Boyd:
“Now that customers are accustomed to this option for their airline tickets, we believe that they will respond favorably as priceline.com offers more retail options for hotel rooms, rental cars and vacation packages.”
He said priceline.com is becoming an opaque “one-stop shop” for leisure travelers.
Looking to the future, Mr Boyd said priceline.com intended to build on the success of their airline tickets in rolling out new choices for retail hotel reservations this year, as well as a new advertising campaign emphasizing the company’s alternatives.
Report by David Wilkening
