Expedia Group ticks solid start box for 2018, helped by HomeAway

Expedia Group recorded a 15% increase in total gross bookings and a 15% increase in revenue to $2.5 billion for the first quarter of 2018 compared to the same period last year.

The company’s HomeAway vacation rental unit drove much of that growth, with a 46% increase in gross bookings year-over-year to $3.9 billion, and $10 billion in gross bookings during the trailing twelve months that ended March 31.

On the flip-side, the group's expenses increased 20% year-over-year.

The amount it spent on selling and marketing in the first quarter rose to $1.5 billion – up 19% from the same period a year earlier – driven by a $186 million increase in direct costs including online and offline marketing expenses primarily for Trivago, HomeAway, Hotels.com, Expedia Partner Solutions and Brand Expedia.

In its latest earnings report, Expedia Group says HomeAway now offers more than 1.6 million online bookable listings – a number that is growing but still far below the five million reported from competitor Booking.com.

HomeAway's growth is in part due to a push in performance marketing through Google AdWords, the first time that the division has made a concerted effort to use the discipline, CEO and president Mark Okerstrom says.

Adjusted EBITDA was $124 million for the first quarter of 2018 – down 40% compared to the same period of 2017. When excluding Trivago, the adjusted EBITDA figure is $152 million – bumping the decrease to just 19% compared to the first quarter of 2017. 

Trivago posted it is own Q1 results earlier this week, with a drop in revenue year-on-year.

Expedia Group operates a broad range of brands but lodging is still its biggest player – accounting for 64% of total worldwide revenue in the first quarter. Advertising and media comes in second at 11%, air at 10% and all other revenues accounted for the remaining 15%.

The company’s global lodging portfolio increased to more than 665,000 properties available by the end of the quarter, up 74% year-over-year.

On March 26, just prior to the quarter ending, the company changed its name from Expedia Inc to Expedia Group.