Expedia tops profit estimates, shares up

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(Global Markets) - Online travel agency Expedia Inc posted a higher quarterly profit on an adjusted basis as revenue rose, and its shares gained more than 15 percent.

"Overall it looks pretty strong," Morningstar analyst Dan Su said, noting a rise in domestic and international bookings.

"You probably would expect some headwinds in the Western economies would be pressuring growth" but there was no sign of that in the Expedia report, she said.

The company had a net loss of $3.3 million, or 2 cents a share, in the first quarter, compared with earnings of $52 million, or 37 cents a share, a year earlier.

Earnings per share adjusted for account depreciation, interest expense and other items rose to 26 cents from 16 cents a year earlier. That was better than the 15 cents a share expected by analysts, on average, according to Thomson Global Markets I/B/E/S.

Quarterly revenue rose 12 percent to $816.5 million, better than the $790.9 million expected by analysts.

Shares of Expedia rose 17 percent to $38.17 after closing at $32.63 on Nasdaq.

(Reporting by Karen Jacobs; Editing by Phil Berlowitz, Steve Orlofsky and Richard Chang)