Ctrip has reported an increase of 30% between 2012 and last year, on the back of net revenue of $890 million.
The Chinese online travel agency saw a similar jump (31%) in the fourth quarter of 2013 from $238 million, although this was a decline of 7% compared to the previous quarter.
Ctrip claims that its investment in leisure travel products, price competitiveness, open-platform, and mobile Internet has enhanced its leadership in the online and mobile travel markets.
Ctrip will continue to investment in branding, promotions, and new businesses in 2014, the company said in its earnings call with investors this week.
For the first quarter of 2014, Ctrip expects to continue the net revenue growth YOY at a rate of approximately 25-30%.
Bullish mobile channel
By the end of Q4 2013, the company's mobile app across all platforms has been downloaded 100 million times, an increase of 30 million downloads from Q3. Also, during peak days, about 50% of hotel and 30% of air transactions are booked through mobile channels.
In Q4 2013, over 65% of Ctrip's transactions were booked through online and mobile channels, compared to about 50% a year ago.
In Q4, Ctrip launched two versions (latest version has car booking service) of mobile app and one version of its tablet app for both iOS and Android systems.
In all quarters of 2013, Ctrip has been highlighting its growth numbers on its mobile platform. In Q2 2013, the company announced that it wants to become a Mobile Travel Agent.
Q4 2013 updates
- Hotel reservation revenues were $106 million, a 37% increase YOY, primarily driven by an increase of 55% in hotel reservation volume and partially offset by the decrease of commission per room night.
- Air ticketing services revenues were $96 million, a 29% increase YOY, primarily driven by an increase of 37% in air ticketing sales volume and partially offset by the decrease of commission per ticket.
- Packaged-tour revenues were $32 million, a 17% increase YOY due to the increase of leisure travel volume. However, the revenues decreased 39% quarter-on-quarter, primarily due to seasonality.
- Corporate travel revenues were $13 million, a 36% increase YOY, primarily driven by the increased corporate travel demand from business activities.
- Product development (IT hiring, IT investment) expenses increased by 26% to $55 million YOY, primarily due to an increase in product development personnel related expense.
- Sales and marketing expenses increased by 34% to $62 million YOY, primarily due to an increase in sales and marketing related activities.
Ctrip's investments in Q4 2013In December 2013, Ctrip led an investment of $60 million in Beijing-based taxi hailing service Yongche.
In the same month, Ctrip again led an investment of $100 million in Shanghai-based online car rental service eHi. With this investment, Ctrip and eHi became strategic partners.
The company's local attraction ticket business grew over 10 times YOY. Director of investor relations at Ctrip, Jade Yu WEI told Tnooz:
"The attraction ticketing is an important business for Ctrip to become the comprehensive travel platform and we will put the right resources to develop it for our travelers in China."
Also, Ctrip acquired ToursForFun, an outbound travel service provider.
Full year 2013 updates
- Hotel reservation revenues were $366 million, a 30% increase from 2012. It accounted for 39% of the total revenues in 2013 and 2012.
- Air ticketing services revenues were $357 million, a 28% increase from 2012. It accounted for 38% of the total revenues in 2013 and 2012.
- Packaged tour revenues were $155 million, a 36% increase from 2012. It accounted for 16% of the total revenues in 2013 and 2012.
- Corporate travel revenues were $44 million, a 34% increase from 2012. It accounted for 5% of the total revenues in 2013 and 2012.
- Product development expenses were $206 million, an increase of 37% from 2012. It accounted for 21% of the net revenues, increased from 19% in 2012.
- Sales and marketing expenses were $210 million, an increase of 29% from 2012. It accounted for 23% of the net revenues, increasing from 22% in 2012.