Booking Holdings: Coronavirus Will Hit 1Q Results
February 26 2020 - 4:48PM
Dow Jones News
By Micah Maidenberg
Booking Holdings Inc. issued a warning about the coronavirus as
it reported fourth-quarter results that beat Wall Street
expectations.
"While the outlook for global travel in the near term is
uncertain due to the coronavirus, we will manage the business
appropriately to enhance long-term value for our stakeholders,"
Chief Executive Glenn Fogel said in a statement Wednesday.
The spread of the virus has had "a significant and negative
impact across our business during the first quarter," the company
said. It predicted key metrics, such as the number of hotel-room
nights booked, would fall in the quarter, dragging revenue
down.
The online travel company reported fourth-quarter revenue of
$3.34 billion, up from $3.21 billion the year earlier and higher
than of forecasts from analysts of $3.28 billion.
Net income grew to $1.17 billion, or $27.75 a share, from $646
million, or $13.86 a share, in the fourth quarter 2018.
The company said profit in the quarter grew in part because it
recorded an unrealized gain of $326 million on equity
securities.
Booking reported an adjusted profit of $23.30 a share, ahead of
the average estimate of $22.04 a share on that metric on
FactSet.
Booking operates Booking.com, airline-travel site Kayak,
OpenTable, which provides restaurants reservations and other
services, and other digital-travel brands.
The company said the number of room nights booked through its
platforms grew 12% in the quarter versus the year earlier, as did
the number of rental car days.
Booking reported 11% growth in the number of airline tickets
purchased through its portals.
Write to Micah Maidenberg at micah.maidenberg@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 26, 2020 16:33 ET (21:33 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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