Trip.com touts travel recovery despite mixed Q2 earnings
Trip.com promoted continued travel demand recovery despite posting a surprise loss for the second quarter that balanced resilient revenue results.
For the quarter, the company reported -$0.05 in EPADS, below the $0.02 expected by analysts. Meanwhile, a 32% decline in revenue from the prior year to $599M came in $86.91M above expectations. Management of the Chinese online travel company touted “staycation” demand as a key to buoying Chinese domestic market performance as local hotel bookings jumped 30% as compared to 2019. Additionally, both air-ticket and hotel bookings doubled from 2021.
“In the second quarter, the global travel industry has made continued progress towards full recovery,” executive chairman James Liang said. “The recovery momentum in Europe and the United States remained robust, and the rebound of travel activities in the Asia-Pacific region also sped up due to further relaxation of travel restrictions.”
He added that pent-up demand is likely to keep momentum positive into the year-end and 2023.
“We will continue to improve our operating efficiency and conduct prudent cost control in the face of the changing environment,” CEO Jane Sun added to Liang’s comments. “All these efforts will enable us to remain flexible and pave the way for long-term growth.”
Shares of Trip.com (TCOM) rose 1.84% in early premarket trading, bouncing back from a deep decline on Wednesday.
Author: Kevin P. Curran, Seeking Alpha