(This Nov. 2 story has been corrected to change the day of the week in paragraph 1)
(Reuters) – Booking Holdings on Thursday reported a better-than-expected profit for the third quarter, as the online agency benefited from robust travel demand through the summer.
Travel operators in the last few months have seen a strong rebound in international travel as consumers took advantage of a strong dollar, flexible work arrangements and fewer mandates to vacation overseas.
The pent-up demand for travel has also helped companies offset rising costs and concerns around an uncertain economy.
Considering trying out virtual dating RN? We got you. Here are some tips to turn you into a video dating pro — instantly.
Booking’s expenses rose 22% in the reported quarter on higher marketing and personnel spend.
The company reported gross travel bookings, which refers to the total dollar value of travel services booked by customers, of $39.8 billion, up 24% from a year ago. Room nights booked rose 15% compared to the prior year.
“We are encouraged by the resilience of leisure travel demand, and we remain focused on executing against our key strategic priorities, which helps position our business well for the long term,” said CEO Glenn Fogel.
Booking, whose biggest market is Europe, posted an adjusted profit of $72.32 per share in the July-to-September period, beating analysts’ estimates of $67.61, as per LSEG data.
Are You Taking One of These 9 “Memory Erasing” Prescriptions? [ad]
You may think your memory loss is just a sign of getting older, but one of these 9 drugs could actually be damaging your brain... These 9 prescription drugs have now been linked to Alzheimer's disease diagnoses. If you're over the age of 60, and you're taking even 1 of these 9 drugs, your brain could be at risk. Click here to learn more.
Its revenues rose 21% to $7.3 billion, coming above analysts’ estimates of $7.26 billion.
(Reporting by Priyamvada C and Ananta Agarwal in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)
