Reuters: Global Markets: Priceline, Orbitz profits top estimates on travel demand

Reuters: Global Markets Reuters.com is your source for breaking news, business, financial and investing news, including personal finance and stocks. Reuters is the leading global provider of news, financial information and technology solutions to the world's media, financial institutions, businesses and individuals. // via fulltextrssfeed.com

Priceline, Orbitz profits top estimates on travel demand Aug 8th 2013, 23:18 Thu Aug 8, 2013 5:01pm EDT (Reuters) - Priceline.com (PCLN.O), the online travel agency known for its name-your-own-price auctions, on Thursday posted higher-than- expected quarterly profit on improved hotel and car-rental reservations, and its shares rose in extended trading. Net income was $437.4 million, or $8.39 a diluted share, in the second quarter, compared with $352.3 million, or $6.88 a share, a year earlier. Adjusted for items, profit was $9.70 a share, more than the $9.36 average estimate by analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Gross bookings, or the value of travel services customers bought, rose 38 percent to $10.1 billion in the second quarter. Quarterly revenue grew about 27 percent to $1.68 billion. Hotel room nights booked increased 38 percent, while rental car days booked rose 46 percent. Priceline said profit for the current third quarter could exceed analysts' estimates. It forecast profit of $15.30 to $16.30 a share for the period. Analysts currently expect $15.86 a share. Shares of Priceline were up nearly 5 percent to $978.90 in extended trading from their close of $933.75 on Nasdaq. (Reporting by Karen Jacobs in Atlanta; Editing by David Gregorio and Richard Chang) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

You are receiving this email because you subscribed to this feed at blogtrottr.com. If you no longer wish to receive these emails, you can unsubscribe from this feed, or manage all your subscriptions