Chinese OTA eLong has reported net revenues of $39.6 million for the first quarter of 2014, an increase of 13% ($35 million) compared to first quarter of 2013.
However, the NASDAQ-listed, Expedia-owned OTA reported a net loss of $5.69 million for the same period.
Mobile channel growth points north
Mobile bookings comprised more than 40% of eLong room nights for the first quarter. Here, "eLong brand room nights" excludes room nights from non-eLong brand distribution partners and resellers.
In Q4 2013, the Expedia-backed company reported that its mobile hotel bookings comprised more than 30% of total hotel room nights stayed, compared to 25% in Q3 2013.
The company expects that mobile bookings will exceed more than 50% of all eLong brand hotel bookings in the future.
CEO Guangfu Cui says:
"In the first quarter, we continued to execute our mobile hotel strategy. Our hotel network now exceeds 100,000 domestic PRC hotels and nearly 300,000 properties worldwide, and mobile bookings are now our largest hotel booking channel."
In Q1 2014, cumulative downloads of eLong mobile apps exceeded 60 million, this number was 45 million in Q4 2013.
Financial updates
Hotel commission revenues for Q1 2014 were $33 million, an increase of 14% compared to Q1 2013. This is primarily due to higher volume, partially offset by lower commission per room night.
Air ticket commission revenues for Q1 2014 were $5.7 million, an increase of 12% compared to Q1 2013.
Expenses related to technology, eLong website and other systems were $8.85 million, an increase of 51% compared to Q1 2013. This is primarily due to higher personnel expenses.
Sales and marketing expenses for Q1 2014 were $21.8 million, an increase of 21% compared to Q1 2013. This is primarily due to increased marketing expenses and hotel commission payments to affiliates.
Other updates
Recently, eLong and Tongcheng entered into a strategic partnership that will enable eLong as the exclusive supplier of agency hotel and group-buying hotel inventory for Tongcheng in mainland China, and Tongcheng as the exclusive supplier of scenic attraction ticket inventory for eLong.
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