Profit at travel website operator Priceline.com Inc. grew 27 percent in the third quarter, buoyed by a sharp rise in revenue on increased travel bookings, The Associated Press reports.
The company’s adjusted results topped Wall Street forecasts.
Priceline reported net income of $596.6 million, or $11.66 per share, for the three months ended Sept. 30. That compares with net income of $469.5 million, or $9.17 per share, in the prior-year period.
Excluding the impact of share-based compensation and other special items, Priceline earned $12.40 per share in the latest quarter.
On that basis, the results exceeded analysts’ consensus forecast, which called for earnings of $11.82 per share, according to FactSet.
Priceline’s revenue grew 17 percent to $1.71 billion from $1.45 billion a year earlier, as agency and merchant revenue both improved. Analysts were expecting $1.66 billion in revenue.
Priceline runs several travel websites, including Booking.com in Europe and Agoda.com in Asia.
