Summary
Booking Holdings Inc. (formerly Priceline.com Incorporated) reported its 2011 annual results, highlighting a strong performance driven by its international operations, particularly Booking.com. The company's strategy emphasizes continued growth in worldwide online hotel and rental car reservations, leveraging its dual model of both price-disclosed ('retail') and opaque ('Name Your Own Price®') offerings. International gross bookings represented a significant majority (78%) of the total, contributing substantially to operating income (88%), underscoring the global nature of the business. Despite robust growth, the company faces intense competition from established players and emerging tech giants like Google. It also navigates risks related to currency fluctuations, increasing online advertising costs, and ongoing litigation concerning hotel occupancy taxes. The company's financial health appears solid, with substantial cash reserves, although it focuses on reinvesting foreign earnings rather than repatriating them to avoid potential tax implications.
Financial Highlights
52 data points| Revenue | $4.36B |
| Cost of Revenue | $1.28B |
| Gross Profit | $3.08B |
| Operating Expenses | $1.68B |
| Operating Income | $1.40B |
| Interest Expense | $31.72M |
| Net Income | $1.06B |
| EPS (Basic) | $21.27 |
| EPS (Diluted) | $20.63 |
| Shares Outstanding (Basic) | 49.65M |
| Shares Outstanding (Diluted) | 51.21M |
Key Highlights
- 1International operations are the primary growth engine, accounting for 78% of gross bookings and 88% of operating income in 2011.
- 2The company operates a dual business model: price-disclosed (retail) and opaque ('Name Your Own Price®') services for hotels, rental cars, and airline tickets.
- 3Online advertising expenses represent a significant portion of costs, increasing as a percentage of gross profit due to the faster growth of international operations.
- 4Booking.com is a key international brand, working with over 185,000 hotels across more than 160 countries.
- 5The company acquired rentalcars.com in May 2010, rebranding it from TravelJigsaw, and is focused on expanding its global rental car reservation service.
- 6Significant competition exists from online travel agencies (OTAs), direct suppliers (hotels, airlines), search engines (Google), and meta-search sites.
- 7The company faces ongoing legal challenges and potential liabilities related to hotel occupancy and other taxes in various U.S. jurisdictions.