Priceline’s Earnings Soar, Orbitz Cuts Losses

Priceline.com’s second-quarter profit grew 56 percent, while competitor Orbitz Worldwide continued to be stuck in the red. Priceline earned $54.1 million in the quarter, up from $34.6 million a year ago.

Orbitz was able to cut its losses, reporting a second-quarter net loss of $5 million compared with a $32 million loss a year earlier. Priceline’s revenue jumped 44 percent, to $514 million. The company reported astronomical international growth.

“Our international business, which includes Booking.com and Agoda.com, had $1.2 billion in second-quarter quarter gross bookings, up 80.1 percent from last year,” said Priceline CEO Jeffery Boyd.

In the U.S., Priceline’s gross travel bookings were up 59 percent, to $872 million. Boyd said its domestic merchant business grew 36 percent, as more consumers sought travel deals. Priceline’s merchant business consists of vacation packages and opaque sales of air, hotel and rental car.

Orbitz’s second-quarter revenue increased 1 percent, to $231 million. Gross bookings totaled $3 billion, a 4 percent increase. International gross bookings were $476 million, an increase of 41 percent (26 percent after adjusting for the impact of foreign currency fluctuations).

Domestic gross bookings declined 1 percent, to $2.6 billion. The growth in international gross bookings resulted from a higher number of transactions as well as higher prices, said Orbitz.