Expedia, Inc. Reports Record Second Quarter Financial Results Quarterly Revenues $17.8 Million, Up 127% over Second Quarter of Fiscal 1999 Cumulative Purchasing Customer Base Surpasses 1 Million Milestone
BELLEVUE, Wash., Jan. 31 /PRNewswire/ -- Expedia(R), Inc. (Nasdaq: EXPE) today announced financial results for the second quarter of fiscal 2000, ending December 31, 1999. Separately, Expedia (http://www.expedia.com) also announced today that it is acquiring two separate companies, Travelscape.com, Inc. (http://www.travelscape.com) and VacationSpot.com, Inc. (http://www.vacationspot.com). The acquisitions establish Expedia as the leader in the Internet lodging business, and continue the company's build-out of the Expedia(R) Global Travel Marketplace.
Total revenues for the second quarter of fiscal 2000 were $17.8 million, up 127% from $7.9 million in the second quarter of fiscal 1999, and up 17% from $15.3 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2000.
Transaction revenues, which consist of transaction commissions and fees on the Expedia.com(TM) site, were $11.9 million, up 145% from the second quarter of fiscal 1999. Revenues from all other sources, including advertising, international, platform licensing and the company's Hotel and Flight Price Matcher services, were $5.9 million, up 97% from the second quarter of fiscal 1999.
"We are very pleased with what we have accomplished in our first quarter as a public company," said Richard Barton, president and CEO of Expedia, Inc. "We have achieved solid revenue growth in a seasonally slow quarter, driven by a strong increase in conversion of visitors to purchasers as a result of the powerful shopping tools and insights that we are providing to our customers."
Gross travel bookings on the Expedia branded sites for the quarter were $220 million, up 158% from the second quarter of fiscal 1999. This brings gross travel bookings on Expedia branded sites since launch to over $1 billion as of December 31 1999. The number of transactions on Expedia branded sites for the quarter was 459,000, up 157% from the second quarter of fiscal 1999. Total gross travel bookings on Expedia branded sites and platform licensee sites (Northwest Airlines, Continental Airlines and American Express Interactive) combined for the quarter were $349 million.
The number of purchasing customers on Expedia branded sites for the quarter was 390,000, up 139% from the second quarter of fiscal 1999. Cumulative purchasing customers on Expedia branded sites increased by 227,000 in the second quarter of fiscal 1999 to 1,163,000 at December 31, 1999, an increase of more than 200% from December 31, 1998.
Conversion (Expedia.com monthly purchasers divided by Expedia.com monthly reach) for the quarter was 3.8%, up 75% from 2.2% in the second quarter of fiscal 1999, and up 32% from 2.9% in the first quarter of fiscal 2000.
The net loss before non-cash stock-based compensation costs for the second quarter of fiscal 2000 was $5.9 million, or $0.16 per share (on 36,418,000 average shares outstanding). This compares with $5.4 million in the second quarter of fiscal 1999, and $5.0 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2000. The net loss before non-cash stock-based compensation expenses narrowed as a percentage of total revenues to 33% for the second quarter of fiscal 2000 from 69% for the second quarter of fiscal 1999.
The net loss for the second quarter of fiscal 2000 after non-cash stock-based compensation costs was $23.2 million, or $0.64 per share. Non-cash stock-based compensation costs of $17.3 million were recognized as a result of the transfer of personnel from Microsoft as the company established itself as an independent entity in October of 1999.
The company reported that, as of December 31, 1999, cash and marketable securities totaled $74.1 million.
Recent Highlights
-- Today Expedia announced the acquisitions of two leading players in Internet lodging, Travelscape.com, Inc. (http://www.travelscape.com) and VacationSpot.com, Inc. (http://www.vacationspot.com). These acquisitions firmly establish Expedia as the leader in the Internet lodging industry. In January, Expedia announced a joint agreement with Ziff-Davis Publishing, the leading Internet and computing magazine publisher, to launch a new high-quality travel magazine. The magazine joins Expedia Radio in complementing the information found on the Expedia websites and in extending the reach of the Expedia brand into other forms of media.
-- In January, Expedia removed the requirement for visitors to its site to register before browsing for flights. According to research by Jupiter Communications, more than 40% of online users are deterred from using sites that require registration.
-- In January, Expedia.com was named the most-visited travel website on the Internet for the ninth consecutive month (Media Metrix, December 1999). Over the past 6 months Expedia.com has had an average of 4 million unique visitors per month.
-- In December, Expedia launched Fare Calendar and Flight Price Matcher, becoming the only online travel agency to offer a complete suite of flight booking services. Fare Calendar matches the lowest published airfares with dates and availability, further helping customers find and book the right trip at the right price. Flight Price Matcher allows Expedia customers to save money by stating their price for airline tickets on the same site that they use for the rest of their travel planning.
-- In November, Expedia, Inc. completed an initial public offering of 5.98 million shares of common stock at $14 per share. The offering was jointly managed by Goldman, Sachs & Co. and Morgan Stanley Dean Witter. Expedia was formerly a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft. As of December 31, 1999 Microsoft owned approximately 85% of all outstanding Expedia common stock. As part of a contractual relationship with Microsoft, Expedia continues to be the exclusive provider of travel services on the MSN(TM) network of Internet services.
About Expedia, Inc.
Expedia, Inc. operates Expedia.com in the United States with localized versions for travelers in Canada, Germany and the United Kingdom. To help customers Travel Right, Expedia provides the best combination of air, car, and hotel booking, vacation package and cruise offers, destination information, and point-to-point mapping.
This press release contains forward-looking statements relating to future events or future financial performance that involve risks and uncertainties. Such statements can be identified by terminology such as "may," "will," "should," "expects," "plans," "anticipates," "believes," "estimates," "predicts," "potential" or "continue" or the negative of such terms or comparable terms. These statement are only predictions and actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these statements based upon a number of factors including final adjustments made in closing the quarter and those identified in the Company's filings with the SEC.
NOTE: Expedia and Expedia.com are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Expedia Inc. in the U.S. and Canada. Microsoft and MSN are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries. Other products and company names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.
Expedia, Inc.
Consolidated Statements of Operations
Three months ended Six months ended
December 31, December 31,
1998 1999 1998 1999
(in thousands except per share amounts)
Net revenues 7,851 $17,821 $13,908 $33,089
Cost of revenues $4,132 $7,314 $7,309 $12,678
Gross profit $3,719 $10,507 $6,599 $20,411
Operating expenses:
Product development $5,083 $4,452 $10,060 $9,845
Sales and marketing $2,516 $10,584 $4,576 $17,316
General and
administrative $1,568 $1,946 $2,618 $4,675
Amortization of
stock options $-- $17,252 $-- $17,252
Total operating
expenses $9,167 $34,234 $17,254 $49,088
Loss from operations $(5,448) $(23,727) $(10,655) $(28,677)
Interest income $-- $543 $-- $543
Pretax loss $(5,448) $(23,184) $(10,655) $(28,134)
Provision for income taxes $-- $-- $-- $--
Net loss $(5,448) $(23,184) $(10,655) $(28,134)
Loss per share -- $(0.64) -- $(0.81)
Weighted average number
of shares outstanding -- 36,418 -- 34,709
Operating loss excluding
stock option charge -- $(6,475) -- $(11,425)
Net loss excluding
stock option charge -- $(5,932) -- $(10,882)
Loss per share excluding
stock option charge -- $(0.16) -- $(0.31)
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SOURCE: Expedia, Inc.
CONTACT: investors, Expedia Investor Relations team at 425-564-7233, or press only, Andrea Riggs of Edelman Public Relations, 312-240-2799, or andrea_riggs@edelman.com, for Expedia, Inc. |
