Online travel firm Expedia Inc. generated $635.7 million for itself while racking up $5.23 billion in bookings for hotels around the world during first-quarter 2009. Both of these figures are down from first-quarter 2008, when the company pulled in $687.8 million on $5.9 billion in bookings.
Shed no tears for the company, however: Its revenue margin – the percentage it took for itself of every booking – rose from 11.7% of its total bookings a year ago to 12.2% during the quarter just ended.
Furthermore, its operating income rose from $90 million to $92.9 million during the same period, although its adjusted net income fell 11% from a year ago, to $62.8 million. Net income dropped from $49.8 million, or 7.2% of gross revenue, to $39.8 million, or 6.3% of net income for the quarter just ended.
Selling at marketing expense stood at $235.9 million, or 37.1% of revenue, compared with $288 million, or 41.9% of revenue, a year ago.
With the exception of the net income figures, company executives seemed happy enough with these results, and portrayed them within its first-quarter earnings statement as part of an overall share-growth strategy. “The test for us will not be in maximizing profitability at the cost of improving our services, but instead in the ground we gain competitively over the next years,” said chairman and senior executive Barry Diller, in the earnings statement.
“Our results for the first quarter, especially the improved momentum in transaction and hotel room night volumes, prove that Expedia can successfully drive unit growth despite an undeniably difficult environment,” added Dara Khosrowshahi, Expedia Inc.’s CEO and president, according to the earnings release.
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