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Last Update: 27-Feb-13 07:57 ET
Priceline shares rise 4% following better than expected earnings
Priceline (PCLN $707.00 +28.51) reported fourth quarter earnings of $6.77 per share, $0.27 better than the Capital IQ consensus of $6.50, while revenues rose 20.2% year/year to $1.19 billion versus the $1.19 billion consensus. Fourth quarter gross travel bookings for the Group, which refers to the total dollar value, generally inclusive of all taxes and fees, of all travel services purchased by its customers, were $6.6 billion, an increase of 32.9% over a year ago. The Priceline Group finished 2012 with a strong 4th quarter showing improving unit growth in hotel room and rental car day reservations," said Jeffery H. Boyd, Chairman and CEO of The Priceline Group. "International gross bookings growth of 43% on a local currency basis in the 4th quarter evidenced the resilience of the business in 2012 despite economic uncertainty in our core European market". Co issues in-line guidance for Q1, sees EPS of $4.90-5.30 vs. $5.16 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q1 revs growth in the range of 17-24% (approx $1.214-1.286 billion versus the $1.24 billion consensus. "Looking forward, Mr. Boyd said "The Group's brands are off to a good start in 2013, with greater supply and geographic reach, a new offline marketing experiment for Booking.com in the United States and a new ad campaign for priceline.com". The Priceline Group said it was targeting the following for 1st quarter 2013: Year-over-year increase in total gross travel bookings of approximately 30% - 37% (an increase of approximately 29% - 36% on a local currency basis). Year-over-year increase in international gross travel bookings of approximately 36% - 43% (an increase of approximately 35% - 42% on a local currency basis). Year-over-year increase in domestic gross travel bookings of approximately 5% - 10%. Year-over-year increase in revenue of approximately 17% - 24%. Year-over-year increase in gross profit of approximately 30% - 37%. Adjusted EBITDA of approximately $316 million to $346 million.
