|
Expedia flies past Street
|
 |
October 30, 2000: 6:09 p.m. ET
Travel Web site posts revenue, loss that handily beat Wall Street forecasts
|
NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Travel Web site Expedia Inc. on Monday reported a fiscal first-quarter loss that was far narrower than anticipated by Wall Street, but warned that increased spending would enlarge its operating loss in the quarter that ends in December.
Bellevue, Wash.-based Expedia (EXPE: Research, Estimates), which is majority owned by software giant Microsoft Corp., said its loss for the period ending Sept. 30, before special items, was $1.6 million, or 4 cents a share. No per-share figure was available for the previous year's first quarter as the corporation was not formed until Oct. 1, 1999.
 Analysts surveyed by First Call had expected a loss of 26 cents a share.
Adjusted for acquisitions, first-quarter revenue increased to $76.4 million, up 115 percent from $35.6 million in the same period last year.
With the special charges included, Expedia reported a first-quarter net loss of $30.8 million or 69 cents a share.
The company, which helps individuals book hotel, air and rental car reservations from their personal computers, attributed the upbeat results to the performance of its core operations.
"The strong progress we've made this quarter is the result of our continued focus on delivering the best prices and the most powerful shopping tools to our customers," said Richard Barton, President and CEO of Expedia, in a statement.
In an interview with Reuters, Barton said that the company was able to grow its business faster than expected, while improving margins and reducing marketing costs. In addition, he added that unlike several dot.coms that were saddled with heavy shipping and warehouse costs, Expedia benefited from being an information-driven business, where growth in customers and revenues quickly showed up in the bottom line.
But the company said it anticipates that its operating loss will increase in the December quarter as it increases its investment in sales and marketing.
Analysts had expected the company to report a loss of 25 cents in the second quarter, which ends in December, according to First Call.
 Advertising and other revenue should rise in the December quarter, the company said, but will likely drop in the following quarter, due to the expected termination of one of its licensing arrangements at the calendar year's end.
For the year, it anticipates sales and marketing expenses to be about $90 million. Sales and marketing expenses in the first quarter were about $18 million.
The results were released after the close of the regular trading session. Shares of Expedia ended at $9.06, off $1.81. But in after-hours trade on Monday, the stock rose some 23 percent to $2.38 to $11.44 a share. 
|
|
|
|
|
|
Expedia
|
Note: Pages will open in a new browser window
External sites are not endorsed by CNNmoney
|
|
|
|
 |
|
