Priceline.com Reports Financial Results for 2nd Quarter 2010

NORWALK, Conn., Aug. 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Priceline.com Incorporated (Nasdaq: PCLN) today reported its financial results for the 2nd quarter 2010. Gross travel bookings for the 2nd quarter, which refers to the total dollar value, generally inclusive of all taxes and fees, of all travel services purchased by consumers, were $3.4 billion, an increase of 43.3% over a year ago.

Priceline.com had revenues in the 2nd quarter of $767.4 million, a 27.1% increase over a year ago. The Company's international operations contributed revenues in the 2nd quarter of $322.6 million, a 63.3% increase versus a year ago (approximately 68% on a local currency basis). Priceline.com's gross profit for the 2nd quarter was $445.3 million, a 45.9% increase from the prior year. The Company's international operations contributed gross profit in the 2nd quarter of $321.8 million, a 63.6% increase versus a year ago (approximately 68% growth on a local currency basis). The Company's operating income in the 2nd quarter 2010 was $173.2 million, a 58.3% increase from the prior year. Priceline.com had GAAP net income for the 2nd quarter of $115.0 million or $2.26 per diluted share, which compares to $67.0 million or $1.38 per diluted share in the same period a year ago.

Pro forma EBITDA for the 2nd quarter was $204.2 million, an increase of 61.8% over the prior year.  Pro forma net income in the 2nd quarter was $158.2 million or $3.09 per diluted share, compared to $2.02 per share a year ago.  First Call analyst consensus for the 2nd quarter 2010 was $2.65 per diluted share. The section below entitled "Non-GAAP Financial Measures" provides a definition and information about the use of pro forma financial measures in this press release and the attached financial and statistical supplement reconciles pro forma financial information with priceline.com's financial results under GAAP.

"Second quarter performance by the Priceline group of companies was once again driven by strong growth in our global hotel reservations, where we believe we gained market share for another quarter," said Jeffery H. Boyd, Priceline's President and CEO.  "The group achieved a combined 48% year-over-year growth in hotel room nights booked.  International gross travel bookings increased by 59% compared to prior year, or 67% on a local currency basis, due to increasing travel demand and an improvement in room rates.  Domestic gross travel bookings grew by 20% driven by strong growth in hotel reservations.  Growth in airline tickets and domestic rental car days was modest as our Name Your Own Price® airline and rental car services were hampered by reductions in capacity by suppliers."

"In May 2010, we acquired TravelJigsaw, a growing international car hire service, which has contributed $43.9 million of gross travel bookings in the 2nd quarter since acquisition.  The TravelJigsaw business showed continued growth in the second quarter and we look forward to working with the team to build the business."

Looking forward, Mr. Boyd said, "We are pleased with the hotel transaction growth we are seeing worldwide, which we believe is being driven by geographic expansion, solid execution in promoting improved conversion on our websites and benefits of group-wide cooperation on integration initiatives.  These factors, combined with growing Internet commerce and travel in some of our newer markets, resulted in resilience in the face of economic volatility and periodic travel disruptions, and we believe provide a foundation for growth over the long-term."

The Company also reiterated its expectation that gross travel bookings growth rates would progressively decline in the second half of 2010 as it compares to periods of relatively stronger business performance in the 2nd half of 2009.

Priceline.com said it was targeting the following for 3rd quarter 2010:

• Year-over-year increase in total gross travel bookings of approximately 33% - 38%.
• Year-over-year increase in international gross travel bookings of approximately 46% - 51% (an increase of approximately 57.5% - 62.5% on a local currency basis).
• Year-over-year increase in domestic gross travel bookings of approximately 13%.
• Year-over-year increase in revenue of approximately 29% - 34%.
• Year-over-year increase in gross profit of approximately 43% - 48%.
• Pro forma EBITDA of approximately $327 million to $337 million.
• Pro forma net income of between $4.78 and $4.98 per diluted share.

Pro forma guidance for the 3rd quarter 2010:

• excludes non-cash amortization expense of acquisition-related intangibles,
• excludes non-cash stock-based compensation expense,
• excludes non-cash interest expense and gains or losses on early debt extinguishment, if any, related to cash settled convertible debt,
• excludes the impact, if any, of charges or benefits associated with judgments, rulings and/or settlements related to hotel occupancy tax proceedings,
• excludes non-cash income tax expense and reflects the impact on income taxes of certain of the pro forma adjustments,        
• includes the additional impact of the pro forma adjustments described above on net income and loss attributable to noncontrolling interests,
• includes the anti-dilutive impact of the "Conversion Spread Hedges" (see "Non-GAAP Financial Measures" below) on diluted common shares outstanding related to outstanding convertible notes, and
• includes the dilutive impact of additional shares of unvested restricted stock, restricted stock units and performance share units because pro forma net income has been adjusted to exclude stock-based compensation.

In addition, pro forma EBITDA excludes depreciation and amortization expense, interest income, interest expense, equity in income and loss of investees, net income and loss attributable to noncontrolling interest, income taxes and includes the impact of foreign currency transactions and other expenses.

When aggregated, the foregoing adjustments are expected to increase pro forma EBITDA over GAAP net income by approximately $121 million in the 3rd quarter 2010.  In addition, the foregoing adjustments are expected to increase pro forma net income over GAAP net income by approximately $38 million in the 3rd quarter 2010. On a per share basis, the Company estimates GAAP net income of approximately $4.06 to $4.26 per diluted share for the 3rd quarter 2010.

Information About Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements reflect the views of the Company's management regarding current expectations and projections about future events and are based on currently available information and current foreign currency exchange rates. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict; therefore, actual results may differ materially from those expressed, implied or forecasted in any such forward-looking statements. Expressions of future goals and similar expressions including, without limitation, "may," "will," "should," "could," "expects," "does not currently expect," "plans," "anticipates," "intends," "believes," "estimates," "predicts," "potential," "targets," or "continue," reflecting something other than historical fact are intended to identify forward-looking statements.

The following factors, among others, could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements:

-- adverse changes in general market conditions for leisure and other travel services as a result of, among other things, decreased consumer spending, general economic downturn, terrorist attacks, natural disasters or adverse weather, the bankruptcy or insolvency of a major airline, or the outbreak of an epidemic or pandemic disease, such as the recent swine flu outbreak;

-- adverse changes in the Company's relationships with airlines and other product and service providers and vendors which could include, without limitation, the withdrawal of suppliers from the priceline.com system (either priceline.com's "retail" or "opaque" services, or both) and/or the loss or reduction of global distribution fees;

-- fluctuations in foreign exchange rates and other risks associated with doing business in multiple currencies;

-- the effects of increased competition, including the potential impact of increased pricing competition initiated by other on-line travel agents in the form of reduced booking fees and/or the launch by competitors of an "opaque" travel offering;

-- an adverse outcome in one or more of the hotel occupancy and other tax proceedings in which the Company is involved;

-- a change by a major search engine to its search engine algorithms that negatively affects the search engine ranking of the company or its 3rd party distribution partners;

-- our ability to expand successfully in international markets;

-- the ability to attract and retain qualified personnel;

-- difficulties integrating recent or future acquisitions, such as the 2nd quarter 2010 acquisition of TravelJigsaw, including ensuring the effectiveness of the design and operation of internal controls and disclosure controls of acquired businesses;

-- the occurrence of an external or internal security breach of our systems or other Internet based systems involving personal customer information, credit card information or other sensitive data;

-- systems-related failures and/or security breaches, including without limitation, "denial-of-service" type attacks on our system, any security breach that results in the theft, transfer or unauthorized disclosure of customer information, or the failure to comply with various state laws applicable to the company's obligations in the event of such a breach; and

--legal and regulatory risks.

For a detailed discussion of these and other factors that could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements, please refer to the Company's most recent Form 10-Q, Form 10-K and Form 8-K filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Unless required by law, the Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

Pro forma EBITDA represents GAAP net income excluding depreciation and amortization expense, interest income, interest expense, equity in income and loss of investees, net income and loss attributable to noncontrolling interest, income taxes and the pro forma adjustments relating to stock-based compensation expense, gains and losses on early debt extinguishment and charges or benefits related to judgments, rulings, or settlements of hotel occupancy tax proceedings.

Pro forma EBITDA, pro forma net income and pro forma net income per share are "non-GAAP financial measures," as such term is defined by the Securities and Exchange Commission, and may differ from non-GAAP financial measures used by other companies. Priceline.com believes that pro forma EBITDA, pro forma net income and pro forma net income per share that exclude certain non-cash or non-recurring income or expense items are useful for analysts and investors to evaluate priceline.com's future on-going performance because they enable a more meaningful comparison of priceline.com's projected cash earnings and performance with its historical results from prior periods. These pro forma metrics, in particular pro forma EBITDA and pro forma net income, are not intended to represent funds available for priceline.com's discretionary use and are not intended to represent or to be used as a substitute for operating income, net income or cash flows from operations data as measured under GAAP. The items excluded from these pro forma metrics, but included in the calculation of their closest GAAP equivalent, are significant components of consolidated statements of income and must be considered in performing a comprehensive assessment of overall financial performance.

Pro forma financial information is adjusted for the following items:

• Amortization expense of acquisition-related intangibles is excluded because it does not impact cash earnings.
• Charges or benefits related to judgments, rulings, or settlements of hotel occupancy tax proceedings are excluded because the amount and timing of these items are unpredictable, not driven by core operating results and render comparisons with prior periods less meaningful.
• Stock-based compensation expense is excluded because it does not impact cash earnings and is reflected in earnings per share through increased share count.
• Interest expense related to the amortization of debt discount and gains or losses on early debt extinguishment related to convertible debt are excluded because they are non-cash in nature.
• Income tax expense is adjusted for the tax impact of certain of the pro forma adjustments described above and to exclude tax expense recorded where no actual tax payments are owed because of available net operating loss carry forwards.
• Net income and loss attributable to noncontrolling interests is adjusted for the impact of certain of the pro forma adjustments described above.

• For calculating pro forma net income per share:
  • net income is adjusted for the impact of the pro forma adjustments described above.
  • fully diluted share count is adjusted to include the anti-dilutive impact of "Conversion Spread Hedges" which increases the effective conversion price of the currently outstanding 0.50% convertible notes due 2011 and 0.75% convertible notes due 2013 from their stated $40.38 conversion price to an effective conversion price of $50.47 per share.  Under GAAP, the anti-dilutive impact of the Conversion Spread Hedges is not reflected on the outstanding diluted share count until the end of the hedge in 2011 and 2013 if and when shares are delivered.
  • all unvested shares of restricted common stock, restricted stock units and performance share units are included in the calculation of pro forma net income per share because pro forma net income has been adjusted to exclude stock-based compensation expense.

The presentation of this financial information should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for the financial information prepared and presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States. The attached financial and statistical supplement reconciles pro forma financial information with priceline.com's financial results under GAAP.

About The Priceline Group of Companies

The Priceline Group of Companies (Nasdaq: PCLN) is a leader in global online hotel reservations, with approximately 61 million room nights booked in 2009.  The Group is composed of four primary brands – Booking.com, priceline.com, Agoda.com and TravelJigsaw.  The Priceline Group provides online travel services in 38 languages in 98 countries in Europe, North America, Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

Based in Amsterdam, Booking.com is a leading international online hotel reservation service operating in 87 countries in 36 languages.  Booking.com offers its customers access to approximately 96,000 participating hotels worldwide.

In the U.S., priceline.com gives leisure travelers multiple ways to save on their airline tickets, hotel rooms, rental cars, vacation packages and cruises. In addition to getting compelling published prices, travelers can take advantage of priceline.com's famous Name Your Own Price® service, which can deliver the lowest prices available. Priceline.com also operates the following travel websites: Travelweb.com, Lowestfare.com, RentalCars.com and BreezeNet.com.

Bangkok-based Agoda.com is an Asian online hotel reservation service that offers hotel rooms around the world and is available in 30 languages.  With headquarters in Manchester, UK, TravelJigsaw is a multinational car hire service, offering its reservation services in more than 4,000 locations in 80 countries.  Customer support is provided in 20 languages.

SOURCE Priceline.com Incorporated