Priceline.com's pitchman may be big-voiced William Shatner, but it has the small European hotels largely to thank for its robust fourth-quarter results.
Gross sales for hotel and air in Priceline's international business surged 81% from a year earlier (70% excluding the impact of foreign exchange rates) and accounted for 63% of Priceline's total gross, up from 53% a year earlier.
The jump was largely a result of Priceline broadening the inventory of European hotels on its Booking.com website, the company said on a conference call with analysts.
While the company doesn't geographically break out its hotel results, room nights jumped 60% from a year earlier, as hotels cut rates to fill rooms.
"I would expect over time for hotels to get more involved in directly marketing over the Internet, but for the small international hotels that make up the majority of the markets, they just don’t have the resources and expertise," said Jeffery Boyd, Priceline's CEO.
Priceline's fourth-quarter net profit doubled from a year earlier, to $78.5 million. Revenue rose 33%, to $541.8 million.
Last week, Expedia reported a fourth-quarter profit as revenue rose 12% from a year earlier, to $697.5 million.
The company said it would boost marketing spending this quarter and rapidly expand its inventory of European hotels.