Booking Holdings 1Q Profit Rises As Users Up Frequency

By Ben Glickman

Booking Holdings said its profit jumped in the first quarter as the company's traveler bookings grew ahead of expectations, buoyed by users traveling more reliably to the company's site.

The Norwalk, Conn.-based online travel company reported a profit of $776 million, or $22.37 a share, in the quarter ended March 31, compared with a profit of $266 million, or $7 a share, a year earlier. Analysts polled by FactSet expected a per-share profit of $12.63.

Stripping out certain one-time items, the company posted an adjusted profit of $20.39, ahead of the $13.98 expected by analysts surveyed by FactSet.

Revenue rose 17% to $4.42 billion, beating the $4.25 billion expected by analysts polled by FactSet.

Booking said gross travel bookings rose 10% to $43.5 billion, compared with the $42.2 billion expected by analysts. Room-nights booked were up 9% from a year earlier.

Chief Executive Glenn Fogel said the company had seen customers visiting Booking.com with higher frequency, with more travelers using premium loyalty tiers.

Write to Ben Glickman at ben.glickman@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 02, 2024 16:28 ET (20:28 GMT)

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