Boston, MA 02/13/2014 (wallstreetpr) – Orbitz Worldwide Inc (NYSE:OWW) which is a global online travel company has reported Q4 earnings of $0.05 better than analysts’ estimates of $0.00. The higher than expected profit was mainly caused by the holiday frenzy that caused an upsurge in hotel bookings and vacation packages.
The company operates a namesake and cheap tickets brand in the US as well as bookers in Europe. The growth in the company revenue during the quarter was massively impacted by revenues from its hotels which have been found to be highly profitable when compared to airline tickets.
Orbitz financial outlook
Orbitz Worldwide Inc (NYSE:OWW) revenue for the fourth quarter came in at $197.43 an improvement of 4% beating consensus estimates of $191.75 million. The increase in revenue for the fourth quarter has been attributed to the holiday frenzy that resulted in huge hotel bookings as well as the increase in the sale of other vacation bookings as well as higher average bookings, values per air. Orbitz Worldwide Inc gross bookings for the quarter improved by 0.2% compared to the fourth quarter of F2012 to come in at $2.4 million.
Orbitz Worldwide Inc (NYSE:OWW) could be making a turnaround from a loss enterprise that it was commonly known, as its earnings ona year over year basis massively improved. During the fourth quarter, earnings came in at $5.3 million compared to a loss of $314.6 million that was recorded in the fourth quarter of 2012. The performance was in contrast to analyst’s expectation of an even break in profit during the quarter.
Revenue from airline tickets did not perform as expected as it fell by 11% during the quarter. This clearly shows that the company’s hotel and vacation booking segment is the most profitable as revenues in this two sectors improved by 18% and 16% respectively. This leaves the question as to whether the company will perform better in the 1st quarter with the holiday season coming to a conclusion.
Orbitz Worldwide Inc guidance
The improvement recorded in the fourth quarter has prompted Orbitz Worldwide Inc (NYSE:OWW) to focus a further improvement in revenue for the current quarter. The company in its guidance expects to record revenue of between $202 and $207 million compared to consensus estimates of $207.3 million. For the full year the company expects to post revenue growth of low-to-middle-single digit percentage while the adjusted EBITDA growth could be in high single digits.
