Putting turbulence over its recently resigned CEO aside momentarily, Priceline Group today posted revenues of $2.1 billion for the first quarter of 2016.
The group saw the exit of president and CEO Darren Huston last week, following an investigation into a personal relationship he is said to have had with a fellow staffer.
But the company's first quarter earnings report for 2016 will have helped pull investors and the industry back over to its performance for the time being.
Gross travel bookings across the group in the first three months of this year came in at $16.7 billion, up by 21% year-on-year.
Profits also saw an increase of 21% over the same period to $2 billion.
In particular, room night reservations were up by 31% y/y on the back of 136.5 million units sold, the highest in the company's history.
Car rental days have yet to reach the 17.2 million achieved in the second quarter of 2015, but Q1 2016 was up 10.9% to 16.2.
The group's forecast for the second quarter of this year is running at around 15%-22% increase in room nights; revenues up 7%-14%; and an adjusted EBITDA figure of approximately $740 million to $795 million.
However, an earlier date for Ramadan in 2016 and the Euro 2016 Football Tournament, both of which begin in June, could have an impact on its overall bookings and financial performance in Q2.
On the earnings call, interim CEO and president Jeff Boyd says the circumstances surrounding his appointment to the role in the wake of Huston's sudden departure were "unfortunate".
He adds that there is no timescale for the appointment of a permanent CEO and president, but says the candidate must have "experience and success" in managing global businesses that operate in a "fast-changing" marketplace.
The group expects to increase its brand advertising spend during the second quarter of 2016, Boyd says, with a particular focus on raising the awareness of Booking.com in the US.
Boyd says the group is "very pleased" with Booking.com's position in the US but it needs to ramp up its branding given that competitors have a "substantial share of voice" in the media.
Although channels such as YouTube and Facebook have yet to provide the same level of analytics as keyword-buying, Boyd says both will feature heavily in the branding efforts for the group in the future as they may give better ROI.
Vacation rentals are now accounting for 423,000 of the 900,000 total hospitality options available to consumers, Boyd claims, with alternative accommodation up by 31% y/y.
This is an "important sector of growth" for the group, he adds.