10-K 1 a08-2574_110k.htm 10-K

 

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 


 

FORM 10-K

 

ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d)

OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

 


 

For the fiscal year ended: December 31, 2007

 

Commission File No.: 0-25581

 

priceline.com Incorporated

(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)

 

Delaware

(State or other Jurisdiction of Incorporation or Organization)

 

06-1528493

(I.R.S. Employer Identification No.)

 

 

 

800 Connecticut Avenue

Norwalk, Connecticut

(Address of Principal Executive Offices)

 

06854

(Zip Code)

 

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (203) 299-8000

 


 

Securities Registered Pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

 

Title of Each Class:

 

Name of Each Exchange on which Registered:

Common Stock, par value $0.008 per share

 

The NASDAQ Stock Market LLC

 

Securities Registered Pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None.

 


 

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes x No o

 

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act.  Yes o No x

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.  Yes x    No o

 

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K.    o

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer or a smaller reporting company.  See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act (Check one):

 

Large accelerated filer x

 

Accelerated filer o

 

Non-accelerated filer o

 

Smaller reporting company o

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act). Yes   o    No   x

 

The aggregate market value of common stock held by non-affiliates of priceline.com as of June 30, 2007 was approximately $1.9 million based upon the closing price reported for such date on the Nasdaq National Market.  For purposes of this disclosure, shares of common stock held by executive officers and directors of priceline.com on June 30, 2007 have been excluded because such persons may be deemed to be affiliates of priceline.com.  This determination of affiliate status is not necessarily a conclusive determination for other purposes.

 

The number of outstanding shares of priceline.com’s common stock was 38,472,411 as of February 15, 2008

 

 



 

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

 

The information required by Part III of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, to the extent not set forth in this Form 10-K, is incorporated herein by reference from priceline.com’s definitive proxy statement relating to the annual meeting of stockholders to be held on June 4, 2008, to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission within 120 days after the end of priceline.com’s fiscal year ended December 31, 2007.

 

priceline.com Incorporated Annual Report on Form 10-K for the Year Ended December 31, 2007 Index

 

PART I

 

Page No.

 

Special Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements

1

Item 1.

Business

1

Item 1A.

Risk Factors

15

Item 1B.

Unresolved Staff Comments

31

Item 2.

Properties

31

Item 3.

Legal Proceedings

31

Item 4.

Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders

41

 

 

 

PART II

 

 

Item 5.

Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

42

Item 6.

Selected Financial Data

45

Item 7.

Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

46

Item 7A.

Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk

71

Item 8.

Financial Statements and Supplementary Data

72

Item 9.

Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure

72

Item 9A.

Controls and Procedures

72

Item 9B.

Other Information

73

 

 

 

PART III

 

 

Item 10.

Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance

74

Item 11.

Executive Compensation

74

Item 12.

Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters

74

Item 13.

Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence

74

Item 14.

Principal Accountant Fees and Services

74

 

 

 

PART IV

 

 

Item 15.

Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules

75

Signatures

79

Consolidated Financial Statements

81

 



 

Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

 

This Annual Report on Form 10-K and the documents incorporated herein by reference contain forward-looking statements.  These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict, including the Risk Factors identified in Item 1A of this Annual Report; therefore, actual results may differ materially from those expressed, implied or forecasted in any such forward-looking statements.

 

Expressions of future goals, expectations and similar expressions including, without limitation, “may,” “will,” “should,” “could,” “expects,” “does not currently expect,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “intends,” “believes,” “estimates,” “predicts,” “potential,” “targets,” or “continue,” reflecting something other than historical fact are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Our actual results could differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements for various reasons including the risks we face which are more fully described in Item 1A, “Risk Factors.”  Unless required by law, we undertake no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. However, readers should carefully review the reports and documents we file or furnish from time to time with the SEC, particularly our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K.

 

PART I

 

Item 1.  Business

 

General

 

We are a leading online travel company that offers our customers a broad range of travel services, including airline tickets, hotel rooms, car rentals, vacation packages, cruises and destination services.  In the United States, we offer our customers a unique choice: the ability to purchase travel services in a traditional, price-disclosed manner or the opportunity to use our unique Name Your Own Price® service, which allows our customers to make offers for travel services at discounted prices.  Internationally, we offer our customers hotel room reservations in over 60 countries and 22 languages.

 

We launched our business in the United States in 1998 under the priceline.com brand and have since expanded our operations to include, among others, the brands Booking.com and Active Hotels in Europe and Agoda in Asia.  Our goal is to be the leading worldwide online hotel reservation service and be the top online discount travel agent in the United States.  At present, we derive substantially all of our revenues from the following sources:

 

·                              Transaction revenues from our Name Your Own Price® airline ticket, hotel room and rental car services, as well as our vacation packages service;

 

·                              Commissions earned from the sale of price-disclosed hotel rooms, rental cars, cruises and other travel services;

 

·                              Customer processing fees charged in connection with the sale of both Name Your Own Price® and price-disclosed airline tickets, hotel rooms and rental cars services.  Priceline eliminated processing fees for its price-disclosed airline ticket service in June 2007;

 

·                              Transaction revenue from our price-disclosed merchant hotel room service;

 

·                              Global distribution system (“GDS”) reservation booking fees related to both our Name Your Own Price® airline ticket, hotel room and rental car services, and price-disclosed airline tickets and rental car services; and

 

·                              Other revenues derived primarily from selling advertising on our websites.

 

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For the year ended December 31, 2007, we had revenues of approximately $1.4 billion comprised of “merchant” revenue, “agency” revenue and “other” revenue.  Merchant revenues are derived from transactions where we are the merchant of record and are responsible for, among other things, collecting receipts from our customers and remitting payments to our suppliers.  Merchant revenues, which represented the substantial majority of our total revenues in 2007, consisted of: (1) transaction revenues representing the selling price of Name Your Own Price® airline tickets, hotel rooms, rental cars and price-disclosed vacation packages services; (2) transaction revenues representing the amount charged to a customer, less the amount charged by suppliers in connection with the hotel rooms provided through our merchant price-disclosed hotel service; (3) customer processing fees charged in connection with the sale of Name Your Own Price® airline tickets, hotel rooms and rental cars and merchant price-disclosed hotels services; and (4) ancillary fees, including GDS reservation booking fees related to certain of the transactions described above.  Agency revenues are generally derived from retail travel related transactions where we are not the merchant of record and where the prices of our services are determined by third parties. Agency revenues consisted primarily of: (1) travel commissions; (2) customer processing fees; and (3) GDS reservation booking fees related to certain of the aforementioned transactions.  Other revenues consisted primarily of revenue from advertising on our websites.

 

Priceline.com was formed as a Delaware limited liability company in 1997 and was converted into a Delaware corporation in July 1998.  Our common stock is listed on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol “PCLN.”  Our principal executive offices are located at 800 Connecticut Avenue, Norwalk, Connecticut 06854.

 

The priceline.com Business Model

 

We offer customers the ability to make hotel reservations on a worldwide basis primarily under the Booking.com and Agoda brands internationally and primarily under the priceline.com brand in the United States.  In the United States, we also offer customers the ability to purchase other travel services, including airline tickets, rental car days, vacations packages, destination services and cruises, through both a traditional, price-disclosed “retail” manner, and through our proprietary demand-collection system known as Name Your Own Price®.  These services are made available over the Internet through websites that we own or control, and are provided by major travel suppliers, including more than 60,000 hotel properties worldwide.  We believe that the combination of our retail price-disclosed model and our Name Your Own Price® model allows us to provide a broad array of options to value-conscious travelers, while providing us with diverse streams of revenue.

 

International: Price-Disclosed Hotel Services.  We offer a retail, price-disclosed hotel service in Europe and Asia through our international operations, which we have developed through recent acquisitions.  In September 2004, we acquired Booking.com Limited, a Cambridge, England-based Internet hotel reservation distributor, and in July 2005, we acquired Amsterdam-based Booking.com B.V., one of continental Europe’s leading Internet hotel reservation services, with offices primarily in Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin, Loule, Paris, Rome and Vienna.  All of our European operations, including Booking.com Limited and Booking.com B.V., are majority-owned by us.  In November 2007, we acquired Agoda Company, Ltd. (“Agoda”) and AGIP LLC (“AGIP,” and together with Agoda, the “Agoda Companies”), an Internet hotel distributor with operations in Singapore and Thailand.  We work with over 60,000 chain-owned and independently owned hotels offering hotel reservations on various websites and in multiple languages.  For geographic related information, see Note 19 to our Consolidated Financial Statements.

 

Our international business — the significant majority of which is currently generated by our European operations — represented approximately 55% of our gross bookings in the year ended December 31, 2007, and contributed more than two-thirds of our consolidated operating income during that period.  We expect that throughout 2008 and beyond, our international operations will represent a growing percentage of our total gross bookings and operating income.

 

 

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United States: Retail Travel Services.  In the United States, we offer customers the ability to purchase price-disclosed hotel rooms, airline tickets, rental car days, vacation packages, destination services and cruises at retail prices.  In these transactions, the customer typically selects airline flights, hotel reservations, rental car or other travel itineraries from an array of results produced in response to the customer’s request.  These results include the identity of the travel supplier, the exact price of the itinerary, and other details relating to the itineraries.  In some circumstances, the customer pays us at the time of reservation, and in other circumstances, the customer pays the travel supplier directly at the time of travel.

 

United States: Name Your Own Price® Travel Services.  We have developed a unique pricing system known as a “demand collection system” that uses the information sharing and communications power of the Internet to create a different way of pricing services.  We believe our services have created a balance between the interests of buyers, who are willing to accept trade-offs in order to save money, and sellers, who are prepared to generate incremental revenue by selling their services at below retail prices, provided that they can do so without disrupting their existing distribution channels or retail pricing structures.  Our demand collection system allows consumers to specify the price they are prepared to pay when submitting an offer for a particular leisure travel service.  We then access databases in which participating suppliers file secure discounted rates not generally available to the public, to determine whether we can fulfill the customer’s offer and decide whether we want to accept the offer at the price designated by the consumer.  For most of these transactions, we have discretion in supplier selection and are the merchant of record in the transaction.  Consumers agree to hold their offers open for a specified period of time (generally, not longer than one minute) to enable us to determine whether we can or want to accept the offer.  Once fulfilled, offers generally cannot be canceled — thereby making such purchases generally non-refundable.  This system uses the flexibility of buyers to enable sellers to accept a lower price in order to sell their excess capacity.  We believe that our demand collection system addresses limitations inherent in traditional seller-driven pricing mechanisms in a manner that offers substantial benefits to both buyers and sellers.  We believe that the principal advantages of our system include the following:

 

·                  Cost Savings.  Our Name Your Own Price® demand collection system allows consumers to save money in a simple and compelling way.  Buyers effectively trade off flexibility about brands, service features and/or sellers in return for prices that are lower than those that can be obtained at that time through traditional retail distribution channels.

 

·                  Incremental Revenue for Sellers.  Sellers use our Name Your Own Price® demand collection system as a revenue management tool to generate incremental revenue without disrupting their existing distribution channels or retail pricing structures.  We require consumers to be flexible with respect to brands and service features.  As a result, our Name Your Own Price® system does not reveal sellers’ brands to customers prior to the consummation of a transaction, thereby protecting their brand integrity.  This shielding of brand identity and price enables sellers to sell services at discounted prices without cannibalizing their own retail sales by publicly announcing discount prices and without competing against their own distributors.

 

·                  Proprietary Seller Networks.  We have assembled proprietary networks of industry leading sellers that represent high quality brands.  By establishing attractive networks of seller participants with reputations for quality, scale and national presence, we believe that we foster increased participation by both buyers and sellers.

 

We often refer to services offered through our Name Your Own Price® service as “opaque” services because all aspects of the travel service are not visible to the consumer before making an offer.

 

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The priceline.com Strategy

 

The online travel category has continued to experience significant worldwide growth as consumer purchasing shifts from traditional off-line channels to interactive online channels.  Priceline.com has been a leader in the deep discount segment of this market in the United States and in the hotel reservation market internationally.  Our strategy is to continue to participate broadly in online travel growth by expanding our service offerings and markets.

 

·                  Become the Leading Worldwide Online Hotel Reservation Service.  The size of the travel market outside of the United States is substantially greater than that within the United States.  Historically, Internet adoption rates and e-commerce adoption rates of international consumers have trailed those of the United States.  However, international consumers are rapidly moving to online means for purchasing travel.  Accordingly, recent international online travel growth rates have substantially exceeded and are expected to continue to exceed the growth rates within the United States.  Prior to 2004, substantially all of our revenues were generated within the United States.  For the year ended December 31, 2007, our international business — the significant majority of which is currently generated by our European operations — represented approximately 55% of our gross bookings, and contributed more than two-thirds of our consolidated operating income during that period.  We expect that throughout 2008 and beyond, our international operations will represent a growing percentage of our total gross bookings and operating income.  Because of what we believe to be superior growth rate opportunities associated with international online travel, we intend to continue to invest resources to increase the share of our revenues represented by international consumers and capitalize on international travel demand.

 

We believe that the positioning of our Booking.com hotel reservation service gives us a foothold into a broader international market.  We intend to use the Agoda Companies, our recently acquired online hotel distributor with operations in Singapore and Thailand, to further develop our operations throughout Asia, where Internet penetration is growing at a substantially greater pace than in the United States over the last several years.  We have begun, and intend to continue, development of the means to share hotel availability among our brands, which we believe will allow us to monetize demand across international markets.  In addition, from time to time we explore strategic transactions and acquisitions that, among other things, allow us to provide our services to new markets.  We believe that by promoting our brands worldwide, sharing hotel supply and customer flow and applying our industry experiences in the United States and Europe to other international regions, we can further expand our service internationally and become the leading worldwide online hotel reservation service.

 

·                  Continue to be One of the Top Online Travel Businesses in North America for Value-Conscious Leisure Travelers.  Our Name Your Own Price® demand collection system in the United States allows consumers to save money in a simple and compelling way.  Buyers effectively trade off flexibility about brands, service features and/or sellers in return for prices that are lower than those that can be obtained at that time through traditional retail distribution channels.  We have expended significant resources to allow us to introduce price-disclosed retail services in the United States to our consumers to compliment the Name Your Own Price® service.  We believe that by offering a “one-stop-shopping” solution to our customers, we can simultaneously fulfill the needs of those customers who are prepared to accept the unique restrictions of our Name Your Own Price® service in exchange for receiving significant savings relative to retail prices, as well as those customers who are less price sensitive and require the certainty of knowing the full details of their travel itinerary prior to purchasing.  In June 2007, we eliminated booking fees on price-disclosed retail airline tickets as part of our strategy to provide value to our customers.

 

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We intend to enhance our service offerings continually, particularly our retail offerings, by adding competitive functionality, adding competitive content at competitive pricing, adding and improving the content and merchandising on our website as well as cross-sell opportunities to maximize customer conversion.

 

·                  Competitive functionality: We continue to expend significant resources to remain competitive in terms of the features and functionality we offer our customers.  For example, since launching our domestic retail air service, we added the ability to search for flexible dates or alternative airports, book one-way and multi-destination itineraries and easily make modifications to search criteria.  We intend to add additional functionality such as the ability to search child and senior fares and to access real time seat maps.

 

·                  Competitive selection and pricing: We believe that having a wide selection of travel options at competitive pricing is critical to our success.  For example, in June of 2007, we eliminated booking fees on price-disclosed retail airline tickets, added JetBlue fares to both our retail price-disclosed and Name Your Own Price® airline ticket services and added over 10,000 additional hotels to our domestic vacation package service. In addition, we have renewed or entered into new agreements with several of our major airline and hotel suppliers, which we believe improved our access to a better selection of travel alternatives and pricing.

 

·                  Content and merchandising: As part of our evolution to a “one-stop-shopping” website, we have added thousands of pages of content to allow customers to research destinations and hotel properties before booking a reservation.  We offer property descriptions, maps, images, and user reviews whereby our customers can benefit from the experiences and opinions of other customers.  In the United States, we introduced “PriceBreakerssm,” which is a presentation of selected travel itineraries at discounted prices that is updated daily.  We intend to continue to improve our content and merchandising with more comprehensive descriptions, more and higher quality images, and more user reviews, which we believe will improve conversion of users shopping on our website.

 

·                  Cross-sell opportunities: We also cross-sell different travel components to maximize the revenue we generate from each customer in the United States.  We have developed and implemented functionality that allows customers to “add-on” travel components to their selection, both during the shopping experience and at time of purchase.  For example, customers can add a rental car reservation to their air or hotel reservation, or a hotel reservation to their air reservation.  Customers can also add destination related services such as shuttles, tours and activities.  Additionally, we cross-sell opaque services on our retail path and retail services on our opaque path.  For example, an unsuccessful opaque air customer may be offered a price-disclosed alternative, while a retail hotel shopper may be offered the Name Your Own Price® alternative for greater savings.  We intend to further enhance these cross-sell opportunities across all of our services.

 

We strive to be the preferred discount distribution channel in the United States for airlines, hotels and rental car companies.  Our Name Your Own Price® service protects supplier brand and published pricing and our packages and other merchandising provide access to the brand neutral leisure traveler at attractive distribution costs.

 

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Service Offerings — International

 

Retail Hotels.  We offer a retail, price-disclosed hotel service in Europe and Asia, primarily through our Booking.com and Agoda brands.  We operate our international operations through Booking.com Limited and Booking.com B.V. in Europe and the Agoda Companies in Asia.  Through these operations, we work with over 60,000 chain-owned and independently owned hotels offering hotel reservations on various websites and in multiple languages.

 

Service Offerings — United States

 

Name Your Own Price® Hotels.  Through our Name Your Own Price® hotel room reservation service, customers can make reservations at hotel properties in substantially all major cities and metropolitan areas in the United States and Europe.  Most significant national hotel chains as well as several important real estate investment trusts and independent property owners participate in our Name Your Own Price® service.  Hotels participate by filing secure private discounted rates with related rules in a global distribution system database.  These specific rates generally are not available to the general public or to consolidators and other discount distributors who sell to the public, however, hotel participants may make similar rates available to consolidators or other discount providers under other arrangements.

 

To make an offer, a customer specifies: (1) the city and neighborhood in which the customer wants to stay, (2) the dates on which the customer wishes to check in and check out, (3) the “class” of service (1, 2, 3, 4, 5-star or “resort”), (3) the price the customer is willing to pay, and (4) the customer’s valid credit card to guarantee the offer.  When making an offer, consumers must agree to stay at any one of our participating hotel partners and accept a reservation that cannot be refunded or changed.  The target market for our Name Your Own Price® hotel room reservation service is the leisure travel market.

 

Retail Hotels.  We also operate a price-disclosed hotel service in the United States that enables our customers to select the exact hotel they want to book and the price of the reservation is disclosed prior to purchase.

 

Name Your Own Price® Airline Tickets.  There are a total of 13 domestic airlines and 26 international airlines participating in our Name Your Own Price® airline ticket service.

 

Our Name Your Own Price® airline ticket service operates in a manner similar to our Name Your Own Price® hotel room reservation service.  To make an offer, a customer specifies: (1) the origin and destination of the trip, (2) the dates on which the customer wishes to depart and return, (3) the price the customer is willing to pay, and (4) the customer’s valid credit card to guarantee the offer.  When making an offer, consumers must agree to:

 

·                  fly on any one of our participating airline partners;

 

·                  leave at any time of day between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. on their desired dates of departure and return;

 

·                  purchase only round trip coach class tickets between the same two points of departure and return;

 

·                  accept at least one stop or connection;

 

·                  receive no frequent flier miles or upgrades; and

 

·                  accept tickets that cannot be refunded or changed.

 

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If a customer’s offer is not accepted, but we believe the offer is reasonably close to a price that we would be willing to accept, we will attempt to satisfy the customer by providing guidance to the customer indicating that changing certain parameters of the offer would increase the chances of the offer being accepted.  For example, in some cases we disclose to the customer that agreeing to fly into an alternate airport would increase the chances of his or her offer being accepted.  In other cases, we inform the customer that increasing his or her offer by a certain amount would increase the chances of it being accepted.  We may also offer a customer the opportunity to purchase a price-disclosed retail airline ticket.

 

Retail Airline Tickets.  We also offer our customers in the United States the ability to purchase retail airline tickets at disclosed prices and with disclosed itineraries.  The airline sets the retail price paid by the consumer and is the merchant of record for the transaction.  These airline tickets do not have the restrictions associated with our Name Your Own Price® service.  For example, in addition to having fully disclosed itineraries, retail airline tickets are generally changeable and cancellable for a fee.  In June 2007, we eliminated booking fees we had previously charged on the sale of retail airline tickets.

 

Name Your Own Price® Rental Cars.  Our Name Your Own Price® rental car service operates in a manner similar to our hotel reservation and airline ticket services.  Our rental car services are currently available in substantially all major United States airport markets.  The top five brand name airport rental car companies in the United States are seller participants in our rental car program.  Consumers can access our website and select where and when they want to rent a car, what kind of car they want to rent (e.g., economy, compact, mid-size, SUV, etc.) and the price they want to pay per-day, excluding taxes, fees and surcharges.  When we receive an offer, we determine whether to fulfill the offer based upon the available rates and rules.  If a customer’s offer is accepted, we will immediately reserve the rental car, charge the customer’s credit card and notify the customer of the rental car company and location providing the rental car.

 

Retail Rental Cars.  We also offer a price-disclosed rental car service on www.priceline.com that enables our customers in the United States to choose between price-disclosed or Name Your Own Price® rental cars.  Our price-disclosed rental car service operates under the agency model, under which we earn a commission upon rental car return, and accommodates one-way and off-airport reservationsAs with our retail airline ticket and hotel reservation services, rental car reservations booked in a retail manner do not have the restrictions associated with our Name Your Own Price® service.  Customers can select the exact car they want to book and the price of the reservation is disclosed prior to purchase.

 

With respect to each of our airline, hotel and rental car services, we believe the combination of our Name Your Own Price® model and the retail model allows us to provide a broad array of options to value-conscious travelers, while providing us with diverse streams of revenue.

 

Vacation Packages.  Our vacation package service allows consumers in the United States to purchase packages consisting of airfare, hotel and rental car components.  Consumers can select the exact hotel or resort that they want to reserve, and then, in most cases, select either a retail airline ticket or an opaque airline ticket for the air component of their package.  Additionally, consumers can add destination related services such as tours, shuttles, and activities.  Vacation packages are sold at disclosed prices, although consumers cannot determine the exact price of the individual components.

 

Destination Services.  We currently offer customers in the United States the opportunity to purchase destination services such as event tickets, ground transfers, tours, restaurant meals and other services available at their travel destinations.  This service is offered to consumers as part of the process of booking an air, hotel and vacation reservation, and also as a standalone service.  In certain locations, we also offer parking and expanded ground transfer options.

 

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Cruises.  We also offer price-disclosed cruise trips through National Leisure Group, Inc. (“NLG”), an agent representing major cruise lines.  Our cruise service allows consumers in the United States to search for and compare cruise pricing and availability information from 17 cruise lines, and to purchase cruises online or through a call center by selecting from our published offerings and prices.  We receive commissions from NLG on successful cruise bookings.

 

Travel Insurance.  We offer our air, hotel and vacation package customers in the United States an optional travel insurance package that provides coverage for, among other things, trip cancellation, trip interruption, medical expenses, emergency evacuation, and loss of baggage, property and travel documents.  The travel insurance is provided by member companies of American International Group, Inc. (“AIG”).  We receive a percentage of the premium from AIG member companies for every optional insurance package purchased by our customers.

 

While we are currently focused on the travel services described above, over time, we may evaluate the introduction of other services that we believe could enhance the travel experience of our customers.

 

Financial Services

 

We offer financial services through Priceline Mortgage Company LLC, d/b/a pricelinemortgage.com, of which we own 49% and hold two of five seats on the board of managers.  Pursuant to an intellectual property license from us, pricelinemortgage.com utilizes the priceline.com Name Your Own Price® business model.  Pricelinemortgage.com is controlled by EverBank, a federally chartered savings association supervised by the Office of Thrift Supervision, and a wholly owned subsidiary of EverBank Financial Corp.  Pricelinemortgage.com has access to the management resources and expertise of EverBank, one of the nation’s largest privately held banking and mortgage firms. EverBank Financial Corp. provides management services to pricelinemortgage.com, including the procurement of personnel and office space and assistance in obtaining regulatory approvals.  Pricelinemortgage.com is operating in all 50 states.  Robert J. Mylod, our Chief Financial Officer, is a director of, and an investor in, EverBank Financial Corp., the parent company of EverBank.  Mr. Mylod’s investment represents less than 1/10 of one percent of EverBank Financial Corp.’s outstanding common stock.

 

Under the terms of an agreement with EverBank Financial Corp., pricelinemortgage.com allows consumers to access attractive financial services including, but not limited to, mortgages, home equity loans, and banking service.  We record our proportionate share of the results of pricelinemortgage.com as equity in income (loss) of investees and minority interests.

 

Marketing and Brand Awareness

 

Priceline.com and Booking.com have established widely used and recognized e-commerce brands through aggressive marketing and promotion campaigns.  During 2007, our total online and offline advertising expenses were approximately $172.7 million and $36.0 million, respectively, a substantial portion of which was spent internationally.  We intend to continue a marketing strategy to promote brand awareness and the concept that consumers can save money using our services.  Underlying our marketing strategy is our belief that our target market is all consumers, not just Internet-savvy consumers.  We intend to continue to promote the Booking.com, priceline.com and Agoda brands aggressively throughout 2008.

 

As our international operations become more meaningful contributors to our results, we have seen, and expect to continue to see, changes in our advertising expense.  Specifically, because our international operations utilize online affiliate marketing and Internet search engines, principally through the purchase of travel-related keywords, as principal means of generating traffic to their websites, our

 

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online advertising expense has increased significantly since our acquisition of those companies, a trend we expect to continue throughout 2008.

 

In addition, we generate advertising revenue by selling advertising to travel suppliers and others on our owned websites in the United States.

 

Competition

 

We compete with both online and traditional sellers of the services we offer. The market for the services we offer is intensely competitive, and current and new competitors can launch new sites at a relatively low cost. In addition, the major online travel companies with which we compete have significantly greater financial resources and capital than we do.  We may not be able to effectively compete with industry conglomerates such as Travelport, Sabre or Expedia, each of which have access to significantly greater and more diversified resources than we do.

 

We currently or potentially compete with a variety of companies with respect to each service we offer. With respect to our travel services, these competitors include, but are not limited to:

 

·                  Internet travel services such as Expedia, Hotels.com and Hotwire, which are owned by Expedia; Travelocity and lastminute.com, which are owned by the Sabre Group; Orbitz.com, Cheaptickets, ebookers, HotelClub and RatesToGo, which are currently owned by Orbitz Worldwide; laterooms and asiarooms owned by Tui Travel, and Gullivers, octopustravel, Superbreak, Venere, hotel.de, Hotel Reservation Service and Wotif;

 

·                  travel suppliers such as airlines, hotel companies and rental car companies, many of which have their own branded websites to which they drive business;

 

·                  large online portal and search companies, such as AOL (including AOL Travel), Yahoo! (including Yahoo! Travel) and Google;

 

·                  traditional travel agencies;

 

·                  online travel search sites such as Mobissimo.com, FareChase.com, Kayak.com and Kayak.com’s recent acquisition, SideStep.com (each sometimes referred to as “meta-search”) and travel research sites that have search functionality, such as TripAdvisor, Travelzoo and Cheapflights.com; and

 

·                  operators of travel industry reservation databases such as Galileo, Worldspan, L.P., Amadeus and Sabre.

 

Many airline, hotel and rental car suppliers, including suppliers with which we conduct business, are focusing on driving online demand to their own websites in lieu of third-party distributors such as us.  Certain suppliers have attempted to charge additional fees to customers who book airline reservations through an online channel other than their own website.  Furthermore, several low cost airlines, which are having increasing success in the marketplace, distribute their tickets exclusively through their own websites.  Suppliers who sell on their own websites typically do not charge a processing fee, and, in some instances, offer advantages such as bonus miles or loyalty points, which could make their offerings more attractive to consumers than models like ours.

 

We potentially face competition from a number of large Internet companies and services that have expertise in developing online commerce and in facilitating Internet traffic, including Amazon.com, AOL, MSN, Google.com and Yahoo!, which compete with us either directly or indirectly through affiliations with other e-commerce or off-line companies.  We also compete with “meta-search” companies, which are companies that leverage their search technology to aggregate travel search results

 

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across supplier, travel agent and other websites.  For example, Yahoo! owns FareChase.com, a travel search-engine that searches for fares and hotel rates at travel supplier and third-party websites, and refers traffic to those sites, and AOL is party to a marketing and technology agreement, and holds a minority interest in, Kayak.com, another leading meta-search company.  Other established search engine companies as well as start-ups are attempting to enter the online travel marketplace in this manner.  If Yahoo!, Google or other portals decide to refer significant traffic to travel search engines, it could result in more competition from supplier websites and higher customer acquisition costs for third-party sites such as ours. In addition, because we advertise on certain meta-search sites, a loss of business for competitive reasons could result.  Competition from these and other sources could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

 

Many of our current and potential competitors, including Internet directories, search engines and large traditional retailers, have longer operating histories, larger customer bases, greater brand recognition and significantly greater financial, marketing, personnel, technical and other resources than priceline.com. Some of these competitors may be able to secure services on more favorable terms than we can. In addition, many of these competitors may be able to devote significantly greater resources to:

 

·                  marketing and promotional campaigns;

 

·                  attracting traffic to their websites;

 

·                  attracting and retaining key employees;

 

·                  securing vendors and supply; and

 

·                  website and systems development.

 

Increased competition could result in reduced operating margins, loss of market share and damage to our brand. There can be no assurance that we will be able to compete successfully against current and future competitors. See “Risk Factors — Intense competition could reduce our market share and harm our financial performance.”

 

Operations and Technology

 

Our business is supported by a systems platform, which was designed with an emphasis on scalability, performance and reliability.  The software platform and architecture are built on server-side Java, C++, ASP, & Perl, and SQL scripts integrated with Oracle & MYSQL relational database systems.  This internal platform was designed to include open application protocol interfaces that can provide connectivity to vendors in the industries in which we operate.  These include large global systems, such as airline and hotel room reservation systems and financial service providers, as well as individual suppliers, such as individual hotels.  Our Internet servers utilize digital certificates to help us conduct secure communications and transactions, as appropriate.

 

The systems infrastructure and web and database servers of our international operations are primarily hosted at Equinix Europe Ltd., in London, England, and Global Switch Amsterdam B.V. and TelecityRedbus, in the Netherlands. Each location has backup generators and infrastructure typical of hosted data centers.

 

Our systems infrastructure and web and database servers in the U.S. are hosted at SAVVIS in Jersey City, New Jersey, which provides communication links, as well as 24-hour monitoring and engineering support.  SAVVIS has its own generator and multiple back-up systems in Jersey City.  We also maintain a second web hosting facility at AT&T in New York City.  Our network operations center monitors both web hosting facilities and is located in our Norwalk, Connecticut headquarters.  All three facilities have an uninterruptible power supply system, generators and redundant servers.  If SAVVIS

 

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were unable, for any reason, to support our primary web hosting facility, we would need to activate our secondary site at AT&T.

 

We out-source most of our domestic call center and customer service functions, and use a real-time interactive voice response system with transfer capabilities to our call centers and customer service centers.

 

Intellectual Property

 

We currently hold eighteen issued United States patents, Nos. 5,794,207; 5,897,620; 6,085,169; 6,108,639; 6,134,534; 6,240,396; 6,332,129; 6,345,090; 6,356,878; 6,418,415; 6,466,919; 6,484,153; 6,510,418; 6,553,346; 6,993,503; 7,203,660; 7,188,176; 7,333,941 and over twenty pending United States and foreign patent applications.  All of our issued United States patents expire between September 4, 2016 and March 22, 2025.  We file additional patent applications on new inventions, as appropriate.

 

While we believe that our issued patents and pending patent applications help to protect our business, there can be no assurance that:

 

·                  a third party will not have or obtain one or more patents that can prevent us from practicing features of our business or that will require us to pay for a license to use those features;

 

·                  our operations do not or will not infringe valid, enforceable patents of third parties;

 

·                  any patent can be successfully defended against challenges by third parties;

 

·                  the pending patent applications will result in the issuance of patents;

 

·                  competitors or potential competitors of priceline.com will not devise new methods of competing with us that are not covered by our patents or patent applications;

 

·                  because of variations in the application of our business model to each of our services, our patents will be effective in preventing one or more third parties from utilizing a copycat business model to offer the same service in one or more categories; or

 

·                  new prior art will not be discovered that may diminish the value of or invalidate an issued patent.

 

There has been discussion in the press regarding the examination and issuance of so-called “business method” patents. As a result, the United States Patent and Trademark Office has indicated that it intends to intensify the review process applicable to such patent applications. The new procedures are not expected to have a direct effect on patents already granted. We cannot anticipate what effect, if any, the new review process will have on our pending patent applications. See, “Risk Factors — We face risks related to our intellectual property.

 

We hold the exclusive rights to the trade names and service marks PRICELINEÒ and PRICELINE.COMÒ in the U.S. as well as in many foreign countries.  We own U.S. Service Mark Registrations Nos. 2,481,750; 2,272,659; 2,594,582 for PRICELINE, and 2,481,752; 2,594,592; 2,594,592; and 2,481,112 for PRICELINE.COM, including all attendant goodwill.  We also own U.S. Service Mark Registrations Nos. 2,647,673 and 2,644,739 for NAME YOUR OWN PRICEÒ; U.S. Service Mark Registration No. 2,481,751 for PRICELINEMORTGAGE®, U.S. Service Mark Registration No. 3,357,458 for PRICELINE EUROPE, and others.  In addition, through our European subsidiary Bookings Europe BV, we hold the registered service mark BOOKINGS in the Netherlands (Benelux Registration No. 762054) and in France (French Registration No. 43276223, as well as French

 

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Registration No. 43276225 for BOOKING; two European Community (“EC”) service mark registrations for BOOKINGS (Regs. Nos. 3413846 and 3413952,) and one for ACTIVE HOTELS (ED Reg. No. 3859618).

 

We aggressively monitor, protect and enforce our copyrights, service marks, trademarks, trade dress, domain names and trade secrets on an ongoing basis through a combination of laws and contractual restrictions, such as confidentiality agreements.  For example, we endeavor to register our trademarks and service marks in the United States and internationally, currently holding over one hundred fifty service mark registrations worldwide.  However, effective trademark, service mark, copyright and trade secret protection may not be available in every country in which our services are or may be made available online, regardless of our continuous efforts to police and register our marks.  See, “Risk Factors - We face risks related to our intellectual property.”

 

We currently own numerous Internet domain names in various top level domains, particularly for purposes of deterring service mark infringement.  Domain names are generally regulated by Internet regulatory bodies such as the World Intellectual Property Organization.  The relationship between trademark and unfair competition laws and domain name registration is evolving.  The Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act in the U.S. and the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers have both significantly enhanced the ability to deter the infringing incorporation of trademarks into domain names by third parties and to assert our registrations against them.  We actively pursue significant infringers as appropriate, including cybersquatters and typosquatters who misappropriate our service marks and misspellings thereof as domain names, in order to maintain our famous marks and prevent the dilution of their distinctiveness.  See, “Risk Factors We face risks related to our intellectual property.”

 

Governmental Regulation

 

The services we provide are subject to various federal, state and local regulations. For example, our travel service is subject to laws governing the offer and/or sale of travel services as well as laws requiring us to register as a “seller of travel.”  In addition, our services may be subject to various state and local taxing regulations.  See “Risk FactorsUncertainty regarding state and local taxes”.

 

In addition, our business is indirectly affected by regulatory and legal uncertainties affecting travel suppliers and global distribution systems.  In 2004, the Department of Transportation (the “DOT”) published a Final Rule, abolishing the rules governing global distribution systems.  As a part of the Final Rule, the DOT rejected proposals to regulate online travel service providers’ fare displays.  However, the DOT deferred consideration of a proposal to amend its policies regarding advertising of air tickets, to require that agency service fees be stated separately from the price being charged by the airlines.  Our current service fee disclosure practices differ from those proposed by the DOT.  If the DOT were to resume consideration of and adopt the service fee proposal, we may have less flexibility regarding merchandising air travel on our websites.

 

We are subject to federal, state and international laws that require protection of user privacy and user data.  In our processing of travel transactions, we receive and store a large volume of personally identifiable data, both in the United States and Europe.  This data is increasingly subject to legislation and regulations in numerous jurisdictions around the world, including the Commission of the European Union through its Data Protection Directive and variations of that directive in the member states of the European Union.  Such government action is typically intended to protect the privacy of personal data that is collected, processed and transmitted in or from the governing jurisdiction.

 

Pricelinemortgage.com is subject to laws governing the licensing and conduct of persons providing mortgage brokerage services. Such laws typically require certain consumer protection disclosures and loan solicitation procedures. For example, the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act prohibits the payment and receipt of mortgage loan referral fees, and permits persons to be compensated

 

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only for the fair market value of non-referral services. Accordingly, pricelinemortgage.com’s home financing service provides non-referral services such as website development and advertising to a licensed mortgage broker who, in turn, provides the back-end processing for loan referrals.

 

All of our services are subject to federal and state consumer protection laws and regulations prohibiting unfair and deceptive trade practices.

 

We are also subject to regulations applicable to businesses conducting online commerce.  Presently, there are relatively few laws specifically directed toward online services. However, due to the increasing popularity and use of the Internet and online services, it is possible that laws and regulations will be adopted with respect to the Internet or online services. These laws and regulations could cover issues such as online contracts, user privacy, freedom of expression, pricing, fraud, content and quality of services, taxation, advertising, intellectual property rights and information security. Applicability to the Internet of existing laws governing issues such as property ownership, copyrights and other intellectual property issues, taxation, libel, obscenity and personal privacy is developing, but any such new legislation could have significant implications on how we conduct online business. In addition, some states may require us to qualify in that state to do business as a foreign corporation because our service is available in that state over the Internet. Although we are qualified to do business in a number of states, failure to meet the qualifications of certain states, or a determination that we are required to qualify in additional states, could subject us to taxes and penalties.  See “Risk Factors — Regulatory and legal uncertainties could harm our business,” and “Uncertainty regarding state and local taxes.”

 

Our European operations are subject to various foreign regulations and governing bodies that might limit their services. They may be affected by unexpected changes in regulatory requirements and various tariffs and trade barriers in connection with online commerce. Any failure by our European operations to comply may have an adverse effect on our business.

 

Seasonality

 

Our Name Your Own Price® services are non-refundable in nature, and accordingly, we recognize travel revenue at the time a booking is generated.  However, we recognize revenue generated from our retail hotel services, including our international operations, at the time that the customer checks out of the hotel.  As a result, a meaningful amount of retail hotel bookings generated earlier in the year, as customers plan and reserve their spring and summer vacations, will not be recognized until future quarters. From a cost perspective, however, we expense the substantial majority of our advertising activities as they are incurred, which is typically in the quarter in which bookings are generated.  Therefore, as our retail hotel business continues to grow, we expect our quarterly results to become increasingly impacted by these seasonal factors.

 

Employees

 

As of February 15, 2008, we employed approximately 1,324 full-time employees, of which 282 are based at our Norwalk, Connecticut headquarters and 998 are based in our international offices. We also retain independent contractors to support our customer service and system support functions.

 

We have never had a work stoppage and our employees are not represented by any collective bargaining unit. We consider our relations with our employees to be good. Our future success will depend, in part, on our ability to continue to attract, integrate, retain and motivate highly qualified technical and managerial personnel, for whom competition is intense.

 

The priceline.com Website

 

We maintain a website with the address www.priceline.com, among others.  We are not including the information contained on our websites as a part of, or incorporating it by reference into, this Annual

 

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Report on Form 10-K.  We make available free of charge through the www.priceline.com website our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K, and amendments to these reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such material with, or furnish such material to, the Securities and Exchange Commission.  These reports and other information are also available, free of charge, at www.sec.gov.  Alternatively, the public may read and copy any materials we file with the SEC at the SEC’s Public Reference Room at 100 F Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20549.  Information on the operation of the Public Reference Room may be obtained by calling the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330.  In addition, the priceline.com Incorporated Code of Business Conduct and Ethics is available through the www.priceline.com website and any amendments to or waivers from the Code of Ethics will be disclosed on that website.

 

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Item 1A.                Risk Factors

 

The following risk factors and other information included in this Annual Report should be carefully considered.  The risks and uncertainties described below are not the only ones we face.  Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us may also impair our business operations.  If any of the following risks occur, our business, financial condition, operating results and cash flows could be materially adversely affected.

 

Our international operations’ business model exposes us to certain risks that we have not traditionally experienced in the U.S. hotel business.

 

Throughout 2007 and 2006, our international operations experienced significant growth in their gross bookings.  This growth rate has contributed significantly to our growth in revenue, gross profit and earnings per share.  We believe that this growth rate has also been a significant driver in the increase in our stock price over the last year.  We expect our international operations to experience a significant decline in their growth rate in future years as the absolute level of their gross bookings grows larger.  Other factors could also cause slowing growth rates in the international business, including changes in foreign currency exchange rates, travel market conditions, changes in hotel pricing or availability, the competitiveness of the market and macro economic weakness.  A decline in our international operations’ growth rate could have a negative impact on our future revenue and earnings per share growth rates and, as a consequence, our stock price.

 

In addition, our international operations rely heavily on various third parties to distribute hotel room reservations, and our international operations’ distribution channels are concentrated among a number of third parties.  Should one or more of such third parties cease distribution of our international operations’ reservations, or suffer deterioration in its search engine ranking, due to changes in search engine algorithms or otherwise, the business of our international operations could be negatively affected.  Similarly, a significant amount of our international business is directed to our own websites through participation in pay-per-click advertising campaigns on Internet search engines whose pricing and operating dynamics can experience rapid change both technically and competitively.  We have experienced increased competition and increased costs associated with our advertising campaigns.  If a major search engine changes its pricing, operating or competitive dynamics in a negative manner, our business, results of operations and financial condition would be adversely affected.

 

The strategy of our international operations involves rapid expansion into countries in Europe, including eastern Europe, Asia and elsewhere, many of which have different customs, different levels of customer acceptance of the Internet and different legislation, regulatory environments and tax schemes.  Compliance with foreign legal, regulatory or tax requirements will place demands on our time and resources, and we may nonetheless experience unforeseen and potentially adverse legal, regulatory or tax consequences.  If our international operations are unsuccessful in rapidly expanding into other international countries, our business, results of operations and financial condition would be adversely affected.

 

Our international operations currently distribute hotel rooms primarily through a retail model whereby we earn a commission from the hotel property when the customer checks out of the hotel.  This requires our international operations to pursue collection of commissions relating to hotel room reservations from the hotel after the customer has completed his or her stay.  We do not have extensive experience in collecting commissions from hotels in many of our international markets and failure to sustain an adequate collection rate could negatively impact the business of our international operations.

 

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We are dependent on the leisure travel industry and certain travel suppliers.

 

Our financial prospects are significantly dependent upon our sale of leisure travel services.  Leisure travel, including the sale of leisure airline tickets and hotel rooms, is dependent on personal discretionary spending levels. As a result, sales of leisure travel services tend to decline during general economic downturns and recessions. In addition, unforeseen events, such as terrorist attacks, political instability, regional hostilities, increases in fuel prices, imposition of taxes or surcharges by regulatory authorities, travel related accidents, travel related health concerns and unusual weather patterns also may adversely affect the leisure travel industry. As a result, our business also is likely to be affected by those events. Further, work stoppages or labor unrest at any of the major airlines could materially adversely affect the airline industry and, as a consequence, have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

 

During the year ended December 31, 2007, Name Your Own Price® hotel room nights from our five largest hotel suppliers accounted for approximately 34.9% of total Name Your Own Price® hotel room nights sold, and sales of airline tickets from our five largest and two largest airline suppliers accounted for approximately 83.9% and 39.9% of total airline tickets sold, respectively. As a result, we are currently substantially dependent upon the continued participation of these suppliers in our system in order to maintain and continue to grow our total gross profit.

 

Our arrangements with the hotel and airline suppliers that participate in our system — either Name Your Own Price® or price-disclosed service — generally do not require them to provide any specific quantity of airline tickets or hotel rooms, or to make tickets or rooms available for any particular route, in any geographic area or at any particular price.  During the course of our business, we are in continuous dialogue with our major suppliers about the nature and extent of their participation in our system. The significant reduction on the part of any of our major suppliers of their participation in our system for a sustained period of time or their complete withdrawal could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

 

With respect to our hotel suppliers, increased demand for hotel rooms may reduce the number of hotel rooms they sell through our service or increase the negotiated rates at which they are willing to provide availability.  If hotel occupancy rates improve to the point that our hotel suppliers no longer place the same value on our distribution systems, such suppliers may reduce the number of hotel rooms they make available through priceline.com and/or our international operations.  Similarly, while not dependent on certain hotel chains, the growth rates of our international operations are dependent upon increasing levels of well-priced, demand-based supply from their portfolio of hotel partners.

 

Many hotels use merchant arrangements with companies like ours to dispose of excess hotel rooms at wholesale rates. If hotels experience increased demand for rooms, they might reduce the number of rooms they make available through our merchant price-disclosed hotel service.  The recent improvement in occupancy rates discussed above could cause hotels to reduce the number of hotel rooms they make available through our merchant price-disclosed hotel service.

 

In addition, certain hotels have begun initiatives to reduce margins received by third party intermediaries on retail merchant transactions, which is the primary method we employ to distribute retail hotel room reservations in the United States.  Many hotels distribute rooms through their own websites and therefore might increase negotiated rates for merchant rate hotel rooms sold through our merchant price-disclosed hotel service, decreasing the margin available to us.  While our merchant price-disclosed hotel agreements with our leading hotel suppliers provide for specified discounts, if one or more participating hotels were to require us to limit our merchant margins, upon contract renewal or otherwise, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

 

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With respect to our airline suppliers, the airline industry has experienced a shift in market share from full-service carriers to low-cost carriers that focus primarily on discount fares to leisure destinations and we expect this trend to continue.  Some low-cost carriers, such as Southwest, have not historically distributed their tickets through us or other third-party intermediaries.  In addition, certain airlines have significantly limited or eliminated sales of airline tickets through opaque channels, preferring to consistently show the lowest available price on their own website.  Certain airlines have also reduced their domestic capacity, which could reduce the number of airline tickets available to our customers.  If one or more participating airlines were to further limit or eliminate discounting through opaque channels and/or further reduce capacity, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

 

Due to our dependence on the airline industry, we could be severely affected by changes in that industry, and, in many cases, we will have no control over such changes or their timing.  Recent, there has been a great deal of speculation in the travel industry, as well as the national media, about potential mergers among major domestic airlines.  If one of our major airline suppliers merges or consolidates with, or is acquired by, another company that either does not participate in the priceline.com system or that participates on substantially lower levels, the surviving company may elect not to participate in our system or to participate at lower levels than the previous supplier.  For example, in September 2005, US Airways and America West merged.  US Airways was a meaningful participant in our Name Your Own Price® system, but America West participated on a very limited basis.  The resulting entity participates in our Name Your Own Price® system, but at much lower levels than US Airways’ historical participation.

 

In addition, in the event that one of our major suppliers voluntarily or involuntarily declares bankruptcy and is subsequently unable to successfully emerge from bankruptcy, and we are unable to replace such supplier, our business would be adversely affected.  To the extent other major U.S. airlines that participate in our system declare bankruptcy, they may be unable or unwilling to honor tickets sold for their flights. Our policy in such event would be to direct customers seeking a refund or exchange to the airline, and not to provide a remedy ourselves. Because we are the merchant-of-record on sales of Name Your Own Price® airline tickets to our customers, however, we could experience a significant increase in demands for refunds or credit card charge backs from customers, which could materially and adversely affect our operations and financial results. In addition, because Name Your Own Price® customers do not choose the airlines on which they are to fly, the bankruptcy of a major U.S. airline or even the possibility of a major U.S. airline declaring bankruptcy could discourage customers from using our Name Your Own Price® system to book airline tickets.

 

The loss of any major airline participant in our Name Your Own Price® system could result in other major airlines electing to terminate their participation in the Name Your Own Price® system, which would further negatively impact our business, results of operations and financial condition.  In addition, fewer independent suppliers reduces opacity and competition among suppliers.  In such event, if we are unable to divert sales to other suppliers, our business, results of operations and financial condition may be adversely affected.

 

In addition, given the concentration of the airline industry, particularly in the domestic market, our competitors could exert pressure on other airlines not to supply us with tickets. Moreover, the airlines may attempt to establish their own buyer driven commerce service or participate or invest in other similar services.

 

With respect to our rental car suppliers, increased utilization (a common metric that measures rental car customer usage) may reduce the number of car reservations they sell through our service or increase the negotiated rates at which they are willing to provide car reservations.  Like airline and hotel suppliers, rental car companies are focused on selling rental car reservations through their own sites, which reduces the amount of rental car reservations available to us.  Furthermore, if one of our major rental car suppliers merges or consolidates with, or is acquired by, another company that either does not participate in the priceline.com system or that participates on substantially lower levels, the surviving

 

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company may elect not to participate in our system or to participate at lower levels than the previous supplier.  Finally, because rental car days are typically less expensive than airline tickets or hotel room nights, a reduction in retail rental car rates has a disproportionately adverse effect on sales of Name Your Own Price® rental car days since customers may be less likely to accept the trade-offs associated with that service.

 

Intense competition could reduce our market share and harm our financial performance.

 

We compete with both online and traditional sellers of the services we offer. The market for the services we offer is intensely competitive, and current and new competitors can launch new sites at a relatively low cost. In addition, the major online travel companies with which we compete have significantly greater financial resources and capital than we do.  We may not be able to effectively compete with industry conglomerates such as Orbitz Worldwide, Sabre or Expedia, each of which have access to significantly greater and more diversified resources than we do.

 

We currently or potentially compete with a variety of companies with respect to each service we offer. With respect to our travel services, these competitors include, but are not limited to:

 

·                  Internet travel services such as Expedia, Hotels.com and Hotwire, which are owned by Expedia; Travelocity and lastminute.com, which are owned by the Sabre Group; Orbitz.com, Cheaptickets, ebookers, HotelClub and RatesToGo, which are currently owned by Orbitz Worldwide; laterooms and asiarooms owned by Tui Travel, and Gullivers, octopustravel, Superbreak, Venere, hotel.de, Hotel Reservation Service and Wotif;

 

·                  travel suppliers such as airlines, hotel companies and rental car companies, many of which have their own branded websites to which they drive business;

 

·                  large online portal and search companies, such as AOL (including AOL Travel), Yahoo! (including Yahoo! Travel) and Google;

 

·                  traditional travel agencies;

 

·                  online travel search sites such as Mobissimo.com, FareChase.com, Kayak.com and Kayak.com’s recent acquisition, SideStep.com (each sometimes referred to as “meta-search”) and travel research sites that have search functionality, such as TripAdvisor, Travelzoo and Cheapflights.com; and

 

·                  operators of travel industry reservation databases such as Galileo, Worldspan, L.P., Amadeus and Sabre.

 

Many airline, hotel and rental car suppliers, including suppliers with which we conduct business, are focusing on driving online demand to their own websites in lieu of third-party distributors such as us.  Certain suppliers have attempted to charge additional fees to customers who book airline reservations through an online channel other than their own website.  Furthermore, several low cost airlines, which are having increasing success in the marketplace, distribute their tickets exclusively through their own websites.  Suppliers who sell on their own websites typically do not charge a processing fee, and, in some instances, offer advantages such as bonus miles or loyalty points, which could make their offerings more attractive to consumers than models like ours.

 

We potentially face competition from a number of large Internet companies and services that have expertise in developing online commerce and in facilitating Internet traffic, including Amazon.com, AOL, MSN, Google.com and Yahoo!, which compete with us either directly or indirectly through affiliations with other e-commerce or off-line companies.  We also compete with “meta-search” companies, which are companies that leverage their search technology to aggregate travel search results

 

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across supplier, travel agent and other websites.  For example, Yahoo! owns FareChase.com, a travel search-engine that searches for fares and hotel rates at travel supplier and third-party websites, and refers traffic to those sites, and AOL is party to a marketing and technology agreement, and holds a minority interest in, Kayak.com, another leading meta-search company.  Other established search engine companies as well as start-ups are attempting to enter the online travel marketplace in this manner.  If Yahoo!, Google or other portals decide to refer significant traffic to travel search engines, it could result in more competition from supplier websites and higher customer acquisition costs for third-party sites such as ours. In addition, because we advertise on certain meta-search sites, a loss of business for competitive reasons could result.  Competition from these and other sources could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

 

Many of our current and potential competitors, including Internet directories, search engines and large traditional retailers, have longer operating histories, larger customer bases, greater brand recognition and significantly greater financial, marketing, personnel, technical and other resources than priceline.com. Some of these competitors may be able to secure services on more favorable terms than we can. In addition, many of these competitors may be able to devote significantly greater resources to:

 

·                  marketing and promotional campaigns;

·                  attracting traffic to their websites;

·                  attracting and retaining key employees;

·                  securing vendors and supply; and

·                  website and systems development.

 

Increased competition could result in reduced operating margins, loss of market share and damage to our brand. There can be no assurance that we will be able to compete successfully against current and future competitors or that competition will not have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

 

Our business could be negatively affected by changes in search engine algorithms and dynamics.

 

We utilize Internet search engines, principally through the purchase of travel-related keywords, to generate traffic to our websites.  Our international operations, in particular, rely to a significant extent upon business from search engines such as Google.  Search engines such as Google frequently update and change the logic which determines the placement and display of results of a user’s search, such that the placement of links to our sites, and particularly those of our international operations and their affiliates, can be negatively affected.  In a similar way, a significant amount of our international business is directed to our own websites through participation in pay-per-click advertising campaigns on Internet search engines whose pricing and operating dynamics can experience rapid change commercially, technically and competitively.  If a major search engine, such as Google, changes its algorithms in a manner that negatively affects the search engine ranking of our brands or our third-party distribution partners or changes its pricing, operating or competitive dynamics in a negative manner, our business, results of operations and financial condition would be adversely affected.

 

We are exposed to fluctuations in currency exchange rates.

 

As a result of our acquisitions of our international operations, we are conducting a significant and growing portion of our business outside the United States and are reporting our results in U.S. dollars.  As a result, we face exposure to adverse movements in currency exchange rates as the financial results of our international operations are translated from local currency into U.S. dollars upon consolidation.  For example, our international operations contributed approximately $372.6 million to our revenues for the year ended December 31, 2007, which compares to $182.7 million for the same period in 2006. Approximately $30.3 million of this increase is due to fluctuations in currency exchange rates.  If the U.S. dollar weakens against the local currency, the translation of these foreign-currency-denominated balances will result in increased net assets, net revenues, operating expenses, and net income or loss.  Similarly,

 

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our net assets, net revenues, operating expenses, and net income or loss will decrease if the U.S. dollar strengthens against local currency. Additionally, transactions denominated in currencies other than the functional currency may result in gains and losses that may adversely impact our results of operations.

 

We may be unable to generate sufficient cash to meet future debt, purchase of minority interest and earnout obligations.

 

As of December 31, 2007, we have $570 million of convertible senior notes outstanding. Based upon the closing price of our common stock during the measurement periods provided for by our convertible debt during the three months ended December 31, 2007, the contingent conversion thresholds for each of the notes were exceeded.  As a result, all of our outstanding notes are convertible at the option of the holder as of December 31, 2007, and, accordingly, have been classified as a current liability in the Consolidated Balance Sheet as of that date.  While many factors contribute to the likelihood that the holders of the notes will elect to convert all or a portion of the notes, as the price of our common stock increases, the likelihood of conversion also increases.  If holders elect to convert, we would be required to settle the principal amount of the notes in cash and the conversion premium in cash or shares of common stock.

 

In connection with our acquisitions of Booking.com B.V. in July 2005 and Booking.com Limited in September 2004 and the reorganization of our international operations, key managers of Booking.com B.V. and Booking.com Limited purchased shares of priceline.com International.  The holders of the minority interest in priceline.com International have the right to put their shares to us in 2008 at a purchase price reflecting the fair market value of the shares at the time of the exercise of the put right (see Note 15 to our Consolidated Financial Statements).  The estimated aggregate fair value of the minority interest in priceline.com International subject to put rights is estimated to be approximately $95 million at December 31, 2007, including unvested restricted stock and restricted stock units.

 

Pursuant to the purchase agreement relating to our acquisition of the Agoda Companies, we may be required to pay, in 2011, certain shareholders of the Agoda Companies an earnout of up to $141.6 million in cash if the Agoda Companies achieve certain performance targets from January 1, 2008 through December 31, 2010.

 

We would likely fund these obligations with existing cash and cash equivalents, short-term investments, borrowings under our revolving credit facility, common stock issuances and/or additional borrowings.  It is possible that we may not have sufficient funds or may be unable to arrange for additional financing which would cause us to be in default under our indentures or revolving credit facility and/or in breach of purchase agreement obligations relating to priceline.com International or the Agoda Companies, and our business, results of operations and financial condition would be adversely affected.

 

The repayment of our $570 million Convertible Senior Notes could result in a substantial decrease in our net interest income.

 

We incur interest expense with respect to our convertible senior notes at annual percentage rates that range between 0.50% and 2.25%.  Because we currently maintain and have maintained significant cash and cash equivalents, short-term investment and long-term investment balances on our balance sheet (approximately $510.3 million as of December 31, 2007) and because the interest rates that we earn on those balances are significantly in excess of the interest rates that we pay on our convertible senior notes, we are generating significant interest income net of our interest expense.  If we were to use our cash and investment balances to repay our convertible senior notes, or if we are unable to refinance our convertible senior notes with new indebtedness bearing interest at rates similar to our convertible senior notes, then our earnings could be significantly negatively impacted by a decrease in net interest income.  While many factors contribute to the likelihood that the holders of the notes will elect to convert all or a portion of the notes, as the price of our common stock increases, the likelihood of conversion also increases.

 

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Our processing, storage, use and disclosure of personal data exposes us to risks of internal or external security breaches and could give rise to liabilities as a result of governmental regulation, conflicting legal requirements or differing views of personal privacy rights.

 

The secure transmission of confidential information over the Internet is essential in maintaining consumer and supplier confidence in the priceline.com services. Substantial or ongoing security breaches whether instigated internally or externally on our system or other Internet based systems could significantly harm our business. We currently require customers who use certain of our services to guarantee their offers with their credit card, either online or, in some instances, through our toll-free telephone service. It is possible that advances in computer circumvention capabilities, new discoveries or other developments, including our own acts or omissions, could result in a compromise or breach of customer transaction data.

 

We incur substantial expense to protect against and remedy security breaches and their consequences. However, we cannot guarantee that our security measures will prevent security breaches. A party (whether internal, external, an affiliate or unrelated third party) that is able to circumvent our security systems could steal customer information or transaction data, proprietary information or cause significant interruptions in our operations. For instance, several major websites, including websites operated by us, have experienced interruptions, which could be significant, as a result of improper direction of excessive traffic to those sites, and computer viruses have substantially disrupted e-mail and other functionality in a number of countries, including the United States. Security breaches also could result in negative publicity, damage our reputation, expose us to risk of loss or litigation and possible liability and subject us to regulatory penalties. Security breaches could also cause customers and potential customers to lose confidence in our security, which would have a negative effect on the value of our brand.  Our insurance policies carry low coverage limits, which may not be adequate to reimburse us for losses caused by security breaches.

 

Companies that we have acquired, such as our international operations, and that we may acquire in the future, may employ security and networking standards at levels we find unsatisfactory.  The process of enhancing infrastructure to attain improved security and network standards may be time consuming and expensive and may require resources and expertise that are difficult to obtain.  Such acquisitions increase the number of potential vulnerabilities, and can cause delays in detection of an attack, as well as the timelines of recovery from any given attack. Failure to raise any such standards that we find unsatisfactory could expose us to security breaches of, among other things, personal customer data and credit card information that would have an adverse impact on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

 

We also face risks associated with security breaches affecting third parties conducting business over the Internet. Consumers generally are concerned with security and privacy on the Internet, and any publicized security problems could inhibit the growth of the Internet and, therefore, the priceline.com service as a means of conducting commercial transactions.  Additionally, security breaches at the third-party, supplier or distributor systems upon which we rely could result in negative publicity, damage our reputation, expose us to risk of loss or litigation and possible liability and subject us to regulatory penalties.

 

In our processing of travel transactions, we receive and store a large volume of personally identifiable data.  This data is increasingly subject to legislation and regulations in numerous jurisdictions around the world, including the Commission of the European Union through its Data Protection Directive and variations of that directive in the member states of the European Union.  This government action is typically intended to protect the privacy of personal data that is collected, processed and transmitted in or from the governing jurisdiction.  We could be adversely affected if legislation or regulations are expanded to require changes in our business practices or if governing jurisdictions interpret or implement their

 

 

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legislation or regulations in ways that negatively affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.

 

In addition, in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 in the United States, government agencies have been contemplating or developing initiatives to enhance national and aviation security, such as the Transportation Security Administration’s Computer-Assisted Passenger Prescreening System, known as CAPPS II.  These initiatives may result in conflicting legal requirements with respect to data handling.  As privacy and data protection has become a more sensitive issue, we may also become exposed to potential liabilities as a result of differing views on the privacy of travel data.  Travel businesses have also been subjected to investigations, lawsuits and adverse publicity due to allegedly improper disclosure of passenger information.  These and other privacy developments that are difficult to anticipate could adversely impact our business, results of operations and financial condition.

 

We rely on the performance of highly skilled personnel and, if we are unable to retain or motivate key personnel or hire, retain and motivate qualified personnel, our business would be harmed.

 

Our performance is largely dependent on the talents and efforts of highly skilled individuals. Our future success depends on our continuing ability to identify, hire, develop, motivate and retain highly skilled personnel for all areas of our organization.  In particular, the contributions of certain key senior management in the U.S. and Europe are critical to the overall management of the company.  In addition, because the value of company equity grants and, in the case of our European senior management, their minority ownership interest, which is subject to repurchase in March and August of 2008, has increased substantially as our share price has increased, it may become more difficult to retain senior managers over time as they realize the value of these equity interests.  We cannot ensure that we will be able to retain the services of any members of our senior management or other key employees, the loss of whom could harm our business.

 

In addition, competition for well-qualified employees in all aspects of our business, including software engineers and other technology professionals, is intense both in the U.S. and abroad.  With the recent success of our international business and the increased profile of the Booking.com business and brand, competitors have increased their efforts to hire our international employees.  Further, as we continue to grow our international operations, we are seeking to rapidly hire a wide range of employees in different — and often constrained — job markets.  Our continued ability to compete effectively depends on our ability to attract new employees and to retain and motivate existing employees.  If we do not succeed in attracting well-qualified employees or retaining and motivating existing employees, our business would be adversely affected. We do not maintain any key person life insurance policies.

 

Our expansion places a significant strain on our management, technical, operational and financial resources.

 

We have rapidly and significantly expanded our international operations and anticipate expanding further to pursue growth of our service offerings and customer base. For example, the number of our employees worldwide has grown from less than 700 in the first quarter of 2007, to approximately 1,324 as of February 15, 2008, which growth is almost entirely comprised of hires by our international operations .  Such expansion increases the complexity of our business and places a significant strain on our management, operations, technical performance, financial resources and internal financial control and reporting functions.

 

There can be no assurance that we will be able to manage our expansion effectively.  Our current and planned personnel, systems, procedures and controls may not be adequate to support and effectively manage our future operations, especially as we employ personnel in multiple geographic locations.  We may not be able to hire, train, retain, motivate and manage required personnel, which may limit our growth, damage our reputation, negatively affect our financial performance, and harm our business.

 

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Capacity constraints and system failures could harm our business.

 

We rely on certain third party computer systems and third party service providers, including the computerized central reservation systems of the airline, hotel and rental car industries to satisfy demand for airline tickets and domestic hotel room and rental car reservations. In particular, our domestic travel business is substantially dependent upon the computerized reservation systems of operators of global distribution systems for the travel industry. Any interruption in these third party services systems or deterioration in their performance could prevent us from booking airline, hotel and rental car reservations and have a material adverse effect on our business. Our agreements with some third party service providers are terminable upon short notice and often do not provide recourse for service interruptions. In the event our arrangement with any of such third parties is terminated, we may not be able to find an alternative source of systems support on a timely basis or on commercially reasonable terms and, as a result, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

 

We also depend upon Paymentech to process our U.S. credit card transactions. If Paymentech were wholly or partially compromised, our cash flows could be disrupted until such a time as a replacement process could be put in place with a different vendor.  As we add complexity to our systems infrastructure by adding new suppliers and distribution, our total system availability could decline and our results could suffer.

 

A substantial amount of our computer hardware for operating our services is currently located at the facilities of SAVVIS in New Jersey, AT&T in New York City, Equinix Europe Ltd. in London, England, Global Switch Amsterdam B.V. and TelecityRedbus in the Netherlands. These systems and operations are vulnerable to damage or interruption from human error, floods, fires, power loss, telecommunication failures and similar events. They are also subject to break-ins, sabotage, intentional acts of vandalism and similar misconduct. Despite any precautions we may take, the occurrence of any disruption of service due to any such misconduct, a natural disaster or other unanticipated problems at the SAVVIS facility, the AT&T facility, the Equinix Europe Ltd. facility or the TelecityRedbus and Global Switch Amsterdam B.V. facility could result in lengthy interruptions in our services. In addition, the failure by SAVVIS, Verizon, AT&T, Equinix Europe Ltd., Colt Telecom Group Limited, Verizon Business B.V., or TrueServer B.V. to provide our required data communications capacity could result in interruptions in our service. Any system failure that causes an interruption in service or decreases the responsiveness of our services could impair our reputation, damage our brand name and have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

 

Like many online businesses, we have experienced system failures from time to time. In addition to placing increased burdens on our engineering staff, these outages create a significant amount of user questions and complaints that need to be addressed by our customer support personnel. Any unscheduled interruption in our service could result in an immediate loss of revenues that can be substantial and may cause some users to switch to our competitors. If we experience frequent or persistent system failures, our reputation and brand could be permanently harmed. We have been taking steps to increase the reliability and redundancy of our system. These steps are expensive, may reduce our margins and may not be successful in reducing the frequency or duration of unscheduled downtime.

 

We use both internally developed systems and third-party systems to operate the priceline.com service, including transaction processing, order management and financial systems. If the number of users of our services increases substantially, or if critical third-party systems stop operating as designed, we will need to significantly expand and upgrade our technology, transaction processing systems, financial and accounting systems and other infrastructure. We do not know whether we will be able to upgrade our systems and infrastructure to accommodate such conditions in a timely manner, and, depending on the third-party systems affected, our transactional, financial and accounting systems could be impacted for a meaningful amount of time before repair.

 

 

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If our systems cannot be expanded to cope with increased demand or fails to perform, we could experience:

 

·                  unanticipated disruptions in service;

 

·                  slower response times;

 

·                  decreased customer service and customer satisfaction; or

 

·                  delays in the introduction of new services,

 

any of which could impair our reputation, damage our brands and materially and adversely affect our revenues.  While we do maintain redundant systems and hosting services for some of our business, it is possible that we could experience an interruption in our business, and we do not carry business interruption insurance sufficient to compensate us for losses that may occur.

 

Companies that we have acquired, such as our international operations, and that we may acquire in the future, may present known or unknown capacity/stability or other types of system challenges.  The process of enhancing infrastructure to attain improved capacity/scalability and other system characteristics may be time consuming and expensive and may require resources and expertise that are difficult to obtain.  Such acquisitions increase potential downtime, customer facing problems and compliance problems.  Failure to successfully make any such improvements to such infrastructures could expose us to potential capacity, stability, and system problems that would have an adverse impact on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

 

We have integrated the majority of our international agency hotel offerings into a single back-office extranet system operated by Booking.com B.V., in order to allow customers of both Booking.com B.V. and Booking.com Limited to access hotels which may have previously been available only through either Booking.com B.V. or Booking.com Limited.  Because all of our international operations’ agency hotel offerings are therefore on one platform, in the event that the extranet operated by Booking.com B.V. experiences a system failure, our international operations could be unable to generate hotel bookings, which would have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

 

Uncertainty regarding state and local taxes.

 

On an ongoing basis, we conduct a review and interpretation of the tax laws in various states and other jurisdictions relating to the payment of state and local hotel occupancy and other related taxes.  In connection with our review, we have met and had discussions with taxing authorities in certain jurisdictions but the ultimate resolution in any particular jurisdiction cannot be determined at this time.  Currently, hotels collect and remit hotel occupancy and related taxes to the various tax authorities based on the amounts collected by the hotels.  Consistent with this practice, we collect a tax recovery charge on the underlying cost of the hotel room night from customers and are billed by the hotel operators for taxes the hotel operators pay to the appropriate tax authorities.  As discussed above, several jurisdictions have initiated lawsuits indicating the position that sales tax or hotel occupancy tax is applicable to the differential between the price paid by a customer for our service and the amount charged by the hotel for the underlying room.  Historically, we have not collected taxes on this differential.  Additional state and local jurisdictions could assert that we are subject to sales or hotel occupancy taxes on this differential and could seek to collect such taxes, either retroactively or prospectively or both.  Such actions may result in substantial liabilities for past and/or future sales and could have a material adverse effect our business and results of operations.  To the extent that any tax authority succeeds in asserting that any such tax collection responsibility exists, it is likely that, with respect to future transactions, we would collect any such additional tax obligation from our customers, which would have the effect of increasing the cost of hotel room reservations to our customers and, consequently, could reduce hotel reservation transactions.  We will continue to assess the risks of the potential financial impact of additional tax exposure, and to the extent appropriate, we will reserve for those estimates of liabilities.

 

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Current economic conditions in the United States are triggering active consideration on ways to generate additional tax revenues by the federal, state and local governments. We cannot predict what changes in tax law or interpretations of such laws may be adopted or assure that such changes or interpretations would not materially impact our business.

 

Acquisitions could result in operating difficulties.

 

As part of our business strategy, in September 2004, we acquired Booking.com Limited, in July 2005, Booking.com B.V. and, in November 2007, the Agoda Companies.  We may enter into additional business combinations and acquisitions in the future.  Acquisitions may result in dilutive issuances of equity securities, use of our cash resources, incurrence of debt and amortization of expenses related to intangible assets acquired.  In addition, the process of integrating an acquired company, business or technology may create unforeseen operating difficulties and expenditures.  The acquisitions of Booking.com B.V., Booking.com Limited, and the Agoda Companies were accompanied by a number of risks, including, without limitation:

 

·                  the need to implement or remediate controls, procedures and policies appropriate for a larger public company at companies that prior to the acquisitions may have lacked such controls, procedures and policies;

 

·                  the difficulty of assimilating the operations and personnel of Booking.com Limited, which are principally located in Cambridge, England, Booking.com B.V., which are principally located in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and the Agoda Companies, which are principally located in Singapore and Bangkok, Thailand, with and into our operations, which are headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut;

 

·                  the potential disruption of our ongoing business and distraction of management;

 

·                  the difficulty of incorporating acquired technology and rights into our services and unanticipated expenses related to such integration;

 

·                  the failure to further successfully develop acquired technology resulting in the impairment of amounts currently capitalized as intangible assets;

 

·                  the impairment of relationships with customers of Booking.com B.V., Booking.com Limited and the Agoda Companies or our own customers as a result of any integration of operations;

 

·                  the impairment of relationships with employees of Booking.com B.V., Booking.com Limited and the Agoda Companies or our own business as a result of any integration of new management personnel;

 

·                  the potential unknown liabilities associated with Booking.com B.V., Booking.com Limited and the Agoda Companies.

 

We may experience similar risks in connection with any future acquisitions. We may not be successful in addressing these risks or any other problems encountered in connection with the acquisitions of Booking.com B.V., Booking.com Limited or the Agoda Companies, or that we could encounter in future acquisitions, which would harm our business or cause us to fail to realize the anticipated benefits of our acquisitions.  As of December 31, 2007, we had approximately $434 million assigned primarily to the intangible assets and goodwill of Booking.com B.V., Booking.com Limited and the Agoda Companies, and therefore, the occurrence of any of the aforementioned risks could result in a material adverse impact, including an impairment of these assets, which could cause us to have to record a charge for impairment.  Any such charge could adversely impact our operating results, which would cause our stock price to decline significantly.

 

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We may not be able to keep up with rapid technological and other changes.

 

The markets in which we compete are characterized by rapidly changing technology, evolving industry standards, consolidation, frequent new service announcements, introductions and enhancements and changing consumer demands. We may not be able to keep up with these rapid changes. In addition, these market characteristics are heightened by the emerging nature of the Internet and the apparent need of companies from many industries to offer Internet based services. As a result, our future success will depend on our ability to adapt to rapidly changing technologies, to adapt our services to evolving industry standards and to continually improve the performance, features and reliability of our service in response to competitive service offerings and the evolving demands of the marketplace. In addition, the widespread adoption of new Internet, networking or telecommunications technologies or other technological changes could require us to incur substantial expenditures to modify or adapt our services or infrastructure.

 

The Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) is considering accounting rule changes that would significantly impact the accounting for our convertible debt.

 

During the third quarter 2007, FASB issued for comment a proposed FASB Staff Position No. APB 14-a, “Accounting for Convertible Debt Instruments that May be Settled in Cash upon Conversion (Including Partial Cash Settlement)” (“FSP APB 14-a”) that would significantly impact the accounting for convertible debt.  The FSP would require cash settled convertible debt, such as our $570 million aggregate principal amount of convertible senior notes that are currently outstanding, to be separated into debt and equity components at issuance and a value to be assigned to each.  The value assigned to the debt component would be the estimated fair value, as of the issuance date, of a similar bond without the conversion feature.  The difference between the bond cash proceeds and this estimated fair value would be recorded as a debt discount and amortized to interest expense over the life of the bond.  Although FSP APB 14-a would have no impact on our actual past or future cash flows, it would require us to record a significant amount of non-cash interest expense as the debt discount is amortized.  As a result, there would be a material adverse impact on our results of operations and earnings per share.  In addition, if our convertible debt is redeemed or converted prior to maturity, any unamortized debt discount would result in a loss on extinguishment.  FASB is expected to begin its redeliberations of the guidance in the proposed FSP in February 2008.

 

FASB’s Emerging Issues Task Force (“EITF”) is reviewing Issue No. 07-5, “Determining Whether an Instrument (or Embedded Feature) Is Indexed to an Entity’s Own Stock.” This Issue addresses the determination of whether an instrument (or an embedded feature) is indexed to an entity’s own stock.  Under current US GAAP, the conversion options embedded in our convertible debt are considered to be indexed to our stock.  If certain of the views being discussed by the EITF are adopted, we may be required to account for our embedded conversion options as derivatives and record them on our balance sheet as a liability with subsequent fair value changes recorded in the income statement.  Although EITF 07-5 would have no impact on our actual past or future cash flows, it would require us to record a significant liability on our consolidated balance sheet.  Subsequent fair value adjustments could result in significant charges or credits recorded in our consolidated statement of operations.  As a result, there would be a material adverse impact on our financial position and results of operations and earnings per share.  The EITF is expected to continue discussing EITF 07-5 at future meetings.

 

We rely on the value of the priceline.com and Booking.com brands, along with others, and the costs of maintaining and enhancing our brand awareness are increasing.

 

We believe that maintaining and expanding the priceline.com brand, and other owned brands, including Booking.com, Active Hotels, Agoda, Lowestfare.com, Rentalcars.com, Breezenet.com, MyTravelGuide.com and Travelweb, are important aspects of our efforts to attract and expand our user and advertiser base.  As our larger competitors spend increasingly more on advertising, we are required to spend more in order to maintain our brand recognition.  In addition, we have spent considerable money and resources to date on the establishment and maintenance of the priceline.com brands, and we will

 

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continue to spend money on, and devote resources to advertising, marketing and other brand building efforts to preserve and enhance consumer awareness of the priceline.com brands. We may not be able to successfully maintain or enhance consumer awareness of the priceline.com brands, and, even if we are successful in our branding efforts, such efforts may not be cost-effective. If we are unable to maintain or enhance customer awareness of the priceline.com brands in a cost-effective manner, our business, results of operations and financial condition would be adversely affected.

 

Our outstanding convertible senior notes could result in substantial shareholder dilution.

 

Our convertible senior notes are convertible into shares of our common stock if certain specified conditions are met.  All of our convertible notes are currently convertible.  Upon conversion, the holder will receive cash for the principal amount of the note and cash or shares of our common stock or a combination of cash and shares of our common stock for the conversion value in excess of such principal amount.  If our stock trades above the conversion prices of the outstanding convertible notes, our diluted share count will increase by the net number of shares that would become issuable to the holders of our outstanding convertible notes and, as a consequence, have a dilutive impact on net income per share.  As an example, at stock prices of $40 per share, $80 per share, $100 per share and $150 per share, our diluted share count would include approximately 0.1 million, 7.2 million, 8.6 million and 10.5 million equivalent shares, respectively, related to the conversion premium on our convertible debt (excluding the offsetting impact of the Conversion Spread Hedges described in Note 12 to the Consolidated Financial Statements).  The Conversion Spread Hedges increase the effective conversion price of the 2011 Notes and the 2013 Notes from $40.38 to $50.47 per share, and reduce the dilution upon conversion of the 2011 Notes and the 2013 Notes.  Since the impact of the Conversion Spread Hedges is anti-dilutive it is excluded from the calculation of net income per share under GAAP until they are exercised upon maturity.

 

Our financial results will be materially impacted by payment of cash income taxes in the future.

 

We commenced recording a U.S. tax provision in the third quarter of 2005 upon reversing of a portion of our valuation allowance on our deferred tax assets.  Due to our significant net operating loss carryforwards, we do not expect to pay cash taxes on our U.S. federal taxable income tax for the foreseeable future.  We expect to make cash payments for U.S. alternative minimum tax and for certain international taxes.  We expect that in 2008 and beyond, our international operations will grow their pretax income at higher rates than the U.S and therefore it is our expectation that our cash tax rate and cash tax payments will increase as our international business generates an increasing share of our pretax income.

 

The unit profitability of our airline ticket business has declined and could continue to decline, as we may be subject to, among other things, competitive pressure and loss or reduction of global distribution system fees.

 

In recent quarters, the amount of profit we make per airline ticket sold has declined and could continue to decline as we, among other things, experience pressure from suppliers to reduce our profit, strive to remain competitive with other online travel agencies and continue to be subject to reduction of global distribution system, or GDS, fees paid to us.  Historically, we have relied on fees paid to us by GDSs for travel bookings made through GDSs for a portion of our gross profit and a substantial portion of our operating income. We rebate certain GDS costs to certain suppliers (e.g., airlines, hotels, etc.) in exchange for contractual considerations such as those relating to pricing and availability, and expect to continue to do so in the future.  During 2006, most agreements between GDSs and the major domestic airlines expired, and most airlines have negotiated new agreements with reduced distribution costs for the airlines that went into effect on or around September 1, 2006.  The structure of these new agreements, along with airline pressure on us to operate under the new structures, requires us to reduce our aggregate compensation and book through lower cost channels to receive airlines’ full content and avoid airline service fees.  We have entered into new agreements with a number of airlines to obtain access to airline content, and are in continuing discussions with others to obtain similar access.  If we were denied access

 

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to airlines’ full content or had to impose service fees on our airline tickets, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

 

Additionally, some travel suppliers are encouraging third-party travel intermediaries, such as us, to develop technology to bypass the traditional GDSs, such as enabling direct connections to the travel suppliers or using alternative global distribution methods recently developed by new entrants to the global distribution marketplace, such as G2 Switchworks Corp.  Such new entrants propose using technology that is less complex than traditional global distribution systems, and that enables the distribution of airline tickets in a manner that is more cost-effective to the airline suppliers.  To this end, in 2006, we entered into an agreement with G2 Switchworks for the provision of GDS services.  In addition, to further reduce our dependence on Worldspan, L.P., in 2006, we entered into an agreement for the provision of GDS services with Sabre Inc.  Development of the technology to connect to such alternative GDSs, or to enable direct connections to travel suppliers, requires the use of information technology resources and could cause us to incur additional operating expenses, increase the frequency/duration of system problems and delay other projects.

 

We face risks related to our intellectual property.

 

We regard our intellectual property as critical to our success, and we rely on trademark, copyright and patent law, trade secret protection and confidentiality and/or license agreements with our employees, customers, partners and others to protect our proprietary rights. If we are not successful in protecting our intellectual property, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

 

While we believe that our issued patents and pending patent applications help to protect our business, there can be no assurance that:

 

·                  any patent can be successfully defended against challenges by third parties;

 

·                  pending patent applications will result in the issuance of patents;

 

·                  competitors or potential competitors of priceline.com will not devise new methods of competing with us that are not covered by our patents or patent applications;

 

·                  because of variations in the application of our business model to each of our services, our patents will be effective in preventing one or more third parties from utilizing a copycat business model to offer the same service in one or more categories;

 

·                  new prior art will not be discovered which may diminish the value of or invalidate an issued patent;

 

·                  a third party will not have or obtain one or more patents that prevent us from practicing features of our business or require us to pay for a license to use those features; or

 

·                  our operations do not or will not infringe valid, enforceable patents of third parties.

 

There has been recent discussion in the press regarding the examination and issuance of so called “business method” patents. As a result, the United States Patent and Trademark Office has indicated that it intends to intensify the review process applicable to such patent applications. The new procedures are not expected to have a direct effect on patents already granted. We cannot anticipate what effect, if any, the new review process will have on our pending patent applications.  In addition, there has been recent discussion in various federal court proceedings regarding the patentability and validity of so called “business method” patents. The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, in a recent order in In re Bilski, has questioned whether it should review its earlier decision affirming the patentability of so-called business method patents in State Street Bank v. Signature Financial.   We cannot anticipate what effect, if any, any new federal court decision will have on our issued patents or pending patent applications.

 

We pursue the registration of our trademarks and service marks in the U.S. and internationally. However, effective trademark, service mark, copyright and trade secret protection may not be available in every country in which our services are made available online. We have licensed in the past, and expect to license in the future, certain of our proprietary rights, such as trademarks or copyrighted material, to third parties. These licensees may take actions that might diminish the value of our proprietary rights or harm our reputation.

 

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From time to time, in the ordinary course of our business, we have been subject to, and are currently subject to, legal proceedings and claims relating to the intellectual property rights of others, and we expect that third parties will continue to assert intellectual property claims, in particular patent claims, against us, particularly as we expand the complexity and scope of our business.  We endeavor to defend our intellectual property rights diligently, but intellectual property litigation is extremely expensive and time consuming, and has and is likely to continue to divert managerial attention and resources from our business objectives.  Successful infringement claims against us could result in significant monetary liability or prevent us from operating our business, or portions of our business.  In addition, resolution of claims may require us to obtain licenses to use intellectual property rights belonging to third parties, which may be expensive to procure, or possibly to cease using those rights altogether.  Any of these events could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations or financial condition.

 

Our business is exposed to risks associated with credit card fraud and charge backs.

 

To date, our results have been negatively impacted by purchases made using fraudulent credit cards. Because we act as the merchant-of-record in a majority of our transactions, we may be held liable for accepting fraudulent credit cards on our website as well as other payment disputes with our customers. Additionally, we are held liable for accepting fraudulent credit cards in certain retail transactions when we do not act as merchant of record.  Accordingly, we calculate and record an allowance for the resulting credit card charge backs.  If we are unable to combat the use of fraudulent credit cards on our website, our business, results of operations and financial condition could be materially adversely affected.

 

Fluctuations in our financial results make quarterly comparisons and financial forecasting difficult.

 

Our revenues and operating results have varied significantly from quarter to quarter because our business experiences seasonal fluctuations, which reflect seasonal trends for the travel services offered by our websites. Traditional leisure travel bookings in the United States are higher in the second and third calendar quarters of the year as consumers take spring and summer vacations. In the first and fourth quarters of the calendar year, demand for travel services in the United States generally declines and the number of bookings flattens.  Travel revenues in Europe, on the other hand, have been higher in the third and fourth quarters than in the first and second quarters.  Furthermore, prior to introducing a retail travel option to our customers, substantially all of our business was conducted under the Name Your Own Price® system and accordingly, because those services are non-refundable in nature, we recognize travel revenue at the time a booking was generated.  We recognize revenue generated from our retail hotel service, however, including our international operations, at the time that the customer checks out of the hotel.  As a result, we have seen and expect to continue to see, that a meaningful amount of retail hotel bookings generated earlier in the year, as customers plan and reserve their spring and summer vacations, will not be recognized until future quarters.  This could result in a disproportionate amount of our annual earnings being recognized in later quarters.

 

Our results may also be affected by seasonal fluctuations in the supply made available to us by airlines, hotels and rental car suppliers. Our revenues and operating results may continue to vary significantly from quarter to quarter because of these factors. As a result, quarter-to-quarter comparisons of our revenues and operating results may not be meaningful. In addition, due to our limited operating history, a relatively new and unproven business model and an uncertain environment in the travel industry, it may be difficult to predict our future revenues or results of operations.

 

Because of these fluctuations and uncertainties, our operating results may fail to meet the expectations of securities analysts and investors. If this happens, the trading price of our common stock would almost certainly be materially adversely affected.

 

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Our stock price is highly volatile.

 

The market price of our common stock is highly volatile and is likely to continue to be subject to wide fluctuations in response to factors such as the following, some of which are beyond our control:

 

·                  quarterly variations in our operating results;

 

·                  operating results that vary from the expectations of securities analysts and investors;

 

·                  changes in expectations as to our future financial performance, including financial estimates by securities analysts and investors;

 

·                  changes in our capital structure;

 

·                  changes in market valuations of other Internet or online service companies;

 

·                  announcements of technological innovations or new services by us or our competitors;

 

·                  announcements by us or our competitors of significant contracts, acquisitions, strategic partnerships, joint ventures or capital commitments;

 

·                  loss of a major supplier participant, such as an airline or hotel chain;

 

·                  changes in the status of our intellectual property rights;

 

·                  lack of success in the expansion of our business model geographically;

 

·                  announcements by third parties of significant claims or proceedings against us or adverse developments in pending proceedings;

 

·                  occurrences of a significant security breach;

 

·                  additions or departures of key personnel; and

 

·                  stock market price and volume fluctuations.

 

Sales of a substantial number of shares of our common stock could adversely affect the market price of our common stock by introducing a large number of sellers to the market. Given the volatility that exists for our shares, such sales could cause the market price of our common stock to decline significantly. In addition, fluctuations in our stock price and our price-to-earnings multiple may have made our stock attractive to momentum, hedge or day-trading investors who often shift funds into and out of stocks rapidly, exacerbating price fluctuations in either direction, particularly when viewed on a quarterly basis.

 

The trading prices of Internet company stocks in general, including ours, have experienced extreme price and volume fluctuations. To the extent that the public’s perception of the prospects of Internet or e-commerce companies is negative, our stock price could decline further, regardless of our results. Other broad market and industry factors may decrease the market price of our common stock, regardless of our operating performance. Market fluctuations, as well as general political and economic conditions, such as a recession or interest rate or currency rate fluctuations, also may decrease the market price of our common stock.  Negative market conditions could adversely affect our ability to raise additional capital.

 

We are defendants in securities class action litigations. In the past, securities class action litigation often has been brought against a company following periods of volatility in the market price of its securities. To the extent our stock price declines or is volatile, we may in the future be the target of additional litigation. This additional litigation could result in substantial costs and divert management’s attention and resources.

 

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We are party to legal proceedings which, if adversely decided, could materially adversely affect us.

 

We are a party to the legal proceedings described in Note 17 to our Consolidated Financial Statements.  The defense of the actions described in Note 17 may increase our expenses and an adverse outcome in any of such actions could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

 

Regulatory and legal uncertainties could harm our business.

 

The services we offer through the priceline.com service are regulated by federal and state governments. Our ability to provide such services is and will continue to be affected by such regulations. The implementation of unfavorable regulations or unfavorable interpretations of existing regulations by courts or regulatory bodies could require us to incur significant compliance costs, cause the development of the affected markets to become impractical and otherwise have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.  See “Uncertainty regarding state and local taxes.”

 

 

Item 1B.  Unresolved Staff Comments

 

None.

 

Item 2.  Properties

 

Our executive, administrative, operating offices and network operations center are located in approximately 92,000 square feet of leased office space located in Norwalk, Connecticut.  Booking.com Limited leases approximately 11,000 square feet of office space primarily in Cambridge, England.  Booking.com B.V. leases approximately 85,000 square feet of office space primarily in Amsterdam, Netherlands.  We also lease office space in 13 other countries in support of our international operations.  We do not own any real estate as of February 15, 2008.

 

We believe that our existing facilities are adequate to meet our current requirements, and that suitable additional or substitute space will be available as needed to accommodate any further expansion of corporate operations.

 

Item 3.  Legal Proceedings

 

 

Litigation Related to Hotel Occupancy and Other Taxes

 

Statewide Putative Class Actions

 

A number of cities and counties have filed putative class actions on behalf of themselves and other allegedly similarly situated cities and counties within the same respective state against the Company and other defendants, including, but not in all cases, Lowestfare.com Incorporated and Travelweb LLC, both of which are subsidiaries of the Company, and Hotels.com, L.P.; Hotels.com GP, LLC; Hotwire, Inc.; Cheaptickets, Inc.; Travelport, Inc. (f/k/a Cendant Travel Distribution Services Group, Inc.); Expedia, Inc.; Internetwork Publishing Corp. (d/b/a Lodging.com); Maupintour Holding LLC; Orbitz, Inc.; Orbitz, LLC; Site59.com, LLC; Travelocity.com, Inc.; Travelocity.com LP; and Travelnow.com, Inc.  Each complaint alleges, among other things, that the defendants violated each jurisdiction’s respective hotel occupancy tax ordinance with respect to the charges and remittance of amounts to cover taxes under each ordinance.  Each complaint typically seeks compensatory damages, disgorgement, penalties available by law, attorneys’ fees and other relief.  Such actions include:

 

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City of Los Angeles v. Hotels.com, Inc., et al.:  On December 30, 2004, a putative class action complaint was filed in the Superior Court for the County of Los Angeles by the City of Los Angeles on behalf of itself and an alleged class of California cities, counties and other municipalities that have enacted occupancy taxes.  In addition to the tax claims, the complaint also asserts unfair competition claims under California Business and Professions Code § 17200, et seq. (“Section 17200”).  On August 31, 2005, the City of Los Angeles filed an amended complaint adding a claim for a declaratory judgment.  On September 26, 2005, the court sustained the defendants’ demurrers on grounds of improper joinder of defendants and claims, and therefore, dismissed the amended complaint, with leave to file a second amended complaint.  On February 8, 2006, the City of Los Angeles filed a second amended complaint that asserts the same claims but includes additional allegations of fact.  On March 27, 2006, at the direction of the court, the defendants filed renewed demurrers to the second amended complaint on grounds of improper joinder of defendants and claims.  On March 31, 2006, the defendants filed a petition to coordinate this matter with the City of San Diego case (discussed below).  On July 12, 2006, that petition was granted, and, as a result, this case and the City of San Diego case will now proceed in the Superior Court of Los Angeles.   On January 17, 2007, the defendants filed demurrers to the City of Los Angeles’ second amended complaint on all issues other than misjoinder of defendants and claims.  On March 1, 2007, the court denied defendants’ previously-filed demurrers on grounds of improper joinder of defendants and claims.  On March 2, 2007, the City of Los Angeles filed a third amended complaint.  On April 11, 2007, the defendants filed renewed demurrers to the third amended complaint.  On July 27, 2007, the court sustained the defendants’ demurrers and dismissed the City’s third amended complaint without prejudice to re-filing upon the exhaustion of the City’s mandatory administrative procedures for tax collection, and stayed the action pending such exhaustion.  The City is presently conducting those administrative procedures.

 

City of Fairview Heights v. Orbitz, Inc., et al.:  On October 5, 2005, a putative class action complaint was filed in the Circuit Court, Twentieth Judicial Circuit, St. Clair County, Illinois, by the City of Fairview Heights on behalf of itself and a putative class of Illinois taxing authorities that are allegedly authorized to impose a tax on the business of renting hotel rooms.  In addition to the tax claims, the complaint also asserts claims for violation of the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Practices Act, 815 ILCS 505/1, similar laws in other states, conversion and unjust enrichment.  On November 28, 2005, the Company and certain other defendants removed this action to the United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois.  On January 17, 2006, the defendants moved to dismiss the complaint.  On February 10, 2006, the City of Fairview Heights moved to remand this action to state court.  On July 12, 2006, the court granted defendants’ motion to dismiss all claims other than the tax claim, denied defendants’ motion to dismiss the tax claim, and denied plaintiff’s motion to remand.  On August 1, 2007, the City of Fairview Heights moved for class certification.  That motion is pending.

 

City of Rome, Georgia, et al., v. Hotels.com, L.P., et al.:  On November 18, 2005, a putative class action complaint was filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia by the City of Rome, Hart County and the City of Cartersville on behalf of themselves and a putative class of Georgia cities, counties and governments which have enacted transient occupancy taxes and/or excise taxes on lodging.  In addition to the tax claims, the complaint also asserts claims for violation of Georgia’s Uniform Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act, conversion, unjust enrichment, a constructive trust and a declaratory judgment.  On February 6, 2006, the Company and certain other defendants moved to dismiss the complaint.  On May 8, 2006, the court granted defendants’ motion to dismiss all claims relating to the Georgia sales and use tax and denied defendants’ motion to dismiss the excise tax claims.  The plaintiffs filed an amended complaint on June 7, 2006 naming additional plaintiffs.  On February 9, 2007, the defendants moved for summary judgment on the plaintiffs’ claims for plaintiffs’ failure to exhaust the administrative procedures required by Georgia law and plaintiffs’ respective ordinances.  On May 10, 2007, the court denied the defendants’ motion but concluding that plaintiffs were required to estimate, assess and attempt to collect the taxes at issue.  The court stayed further litigation to permit plaintiffs to comply with those administrative procedures.  Since May 10, 2007, certain of the plaintiffs have sent the Company and other defendants notices of deficiency and requests for reports regarding hotel

 

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reservation transactions in their respective jurisdictions, to which the Company and other defendants have responded.

 

Pitt County v. Hotels.com, L.P., et al.:  On December 1, 2005, a putative class action complaint was filed in the North Carolina General Court of Justice, Superior Court Division by Pitt County on behalf of itself and a putative class of North Carolina political subdivisions that impose occupancy taxes.  In addition to the tax claims, the complaint also asserts claims for violation of North Carolina General Statute § 75-1, et seq., conversion, a constructive trust and a declaratory judgment.  On February 13, 2006, the defendants removed this action to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina.  On March 13, 2006, the defendants moved to dismiss the complaint.  On March 29, 2007, the court denied defendants’ motion to dismiss the complaint.  On April 13, 2007, the defendants moved for reconsideration of that decision or, in the alternative, interlocutory appeal.  On August 13, 2007, the court granted defendants’ motion for reconsideration of the court’s prior order denying the defendants’ motion to dismiss, and dismissed the action in its entirety.  On September 6, 2007, Pitt County filed a notice of appeal of that decision to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.  That appeal is pending.

 

City of San Antonio, Texas v. Hotels.com, L.P., et al.:  On May 8, 2006, a putative class action complaint was filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas, San Antonio Division, by the City of San Antonio on behalf of itself and putative classes of Texas municipalities.  In addition to the tax claims, the complaint also asserts claim for conversion and a declaratory judgment.  On June 30, 2006, the Company and other defendants moved to dismiss the complaint.  On August 28, 2006, the plaintiff moved for class certification.  Following briefing of the motion to dismiss and motion for class certification, on October 30, 2006, the plaintiff filed a first amended complaint that limited the putative classes of Texas municipalities to 175 specifically enumerated municipalities that plaintiff alleges to have hotel occupancy tax ordinances similar to that of the plaintiff.  On March 21, 2007, the court denied defendants’ motion to dismiss the City of San Antonio’s amended complaint.   On May 16 and 17, 2007, the court conducted a hearing on the City of San Antonio’s motion for class certification.  That motion remains pending.   On September 7, 2007, the defendants filed a motion for reconsideration of the court’s March 21, 2007 order denying the defendants’ motion to dismiss, and that motion was denied on October 1, 2007.

 

Lake County Convention and Visitors Bureau, Inc. and Marshall County v. Hotels.com, L.P., et al.:  On June 12, 2006, a putative class action was filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Indiana, Hammond Division, by the Lake County Convention and Visitors Bureau and Marshall County on behalf of themselves and a putative class of Indiana counties, convention and visitors bureaus and any other local governments which have enacted or benefit from taxes on innkeepers.  In addition to the tax claims, the complaint also asserts claims for conversion, unjust enrichment, and breach of fiduciary duties.  On November 3, 2006, the Company and other defendants moved to dismiss the complaint.  That motion is pending.

 

City of Columbus, et al. v. Hotels.com, L.P., et al.:  On August 8, 2006, a putative class action complaint was filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio by the cities of Columbus and Dayton on behalf of themselves and a putative class of Ohio cities, counties and townships that have enacted occupancy or excise taxes on lodging.  In addition to the tax claims, the complaint also asserts claims for unjust enrichment, money had and received, conversion, a constructive trust and a declaratory judgment.   On September 25, 2006, the Company and other defendants moved to dismiss the complaint.  On September 27, 2006, the Company and other defendants moved to transfer the case to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, where the City of Findlay case (discussed below) is pending.  On January 8, 2007, the Magistrate Judge issued a report and recommendation that the case be transferred to the Northern District of Ohio.  Plaintiffs objected to the Magistrate Judge’s report and recommendations.  On July 10, 2007, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio transferred the case to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio.  On July 23, 2007, the court in the Northern District of Ohio granted defendants’ motion to dismiss the plaintiffs’

 

33



 

Consumer Sales Practices Act claims and denied defendants’ motion to dismiss the remaining claims, adopting the reasoning of the court’s opinion on the motion to dismiss in the City of Findlay case.  On August 31, 2007, the defendants answered the complaint.  On November 5, 2007, the parties jointly moved to consolidate the City of Columbus action with the City of Findlay action for pre-trial purposes, and that motion was granted on November 6, 2007.  On February 19, 2008, the cities of Columbus, Dayton and Findlay moved to amend their respective complaints to drop all class action allegations and to add nine additional Ohio municipalities as plaintiffs.   That motion is pending.

 

Louisville/Jefferson County Metro Government v. Hotels.com, L.P., et al.:  On September 21, 2006, a putative class action was filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky by the Louisville/Jefferson County Metro Government on behalf of itself and a putative class of Kentucky cities, counties and townships that have enacted transient room taxes.  In addition to the tax claims, the complaint also asserts claims for conversion, money had and received, unjust enrichment, a constructive trust, and a declaratory judgment.  On December 15, 2006, the plaintiff moved to amend the complaint to make certain changes to the identity of the defendants. That motion was granted, and, on January 8, 2007, plaintiff filed its amended complaint.  On December 22, 2006, the defendants moved to dismiss the original complaint, and, on January 17, 2007, renewed their motion to dismiss with respect to the amended complaint.  On August 10, 2007, the court denied the defendants’ motion to dismiss.  On September 13, 2007, the defendants answered.  On October 26, 2007, the defendants filed a motion for reconsideration of the court’s order denying the defendants’ motion to dismiss, or, in the alternative, certification of interlocutory appeal to the Kentucky Supreme Court or the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.  On November 9, 2007, the plaintiff moved to strike the defendants’ motion for reconsideration.  Both motions are pending.  The plaintiff has stated its intent to seek to amend its amended complaint to withdraw its class allegations.

 

County of Nassau, New York v. Hotels.com, LP, et al.:  On October 24, 2006, a putative class action was filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York by Nassau County on behalf of itself and a putative class of New York cities, counties and other local governmental entities that have imposed hotel taxes since March 1, 1995.  In addition to the tax claims, the complaint also asserts claims for conversion, unjust enrichment and a constructive trust.  On January 31, 2007, the defendants moved to dismiss the complaint.  On August 17, 2007, the court granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss the complaint for the County of Nassau’s failure to exhaust its mandatory administrative procedures for tax collection.  On September 12, 2007, the County of Nassau filed a notice of appeal of that order to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.  That appeal is pending.

 

City of Fayetteville v. Hotels.com, L.P., et al.:  On February 28, 2007, a putative class action complaint was filed in the Circuit Court of Washington County, Arkansas by the City of Fayetteville, Arkansas on behalf of itself and a putative class of Arkansas cities, counties and townships that have enacted uniform hotel taxes on lodging.  In addition to the claim for hotel taxes, the complaint also asserted claims for a declaratory judgment, conversion, unjust enrichment, and a constructive trust.  On July 24, 2007, the City of Fayetteville filed an amended complaint correcting the names of certain defendants.  On August 7, 2007, the defendants moved to dismiss the amended complaint.  That motion is pending.

 

City of Jefferson, Missouri v. Hotels.com, LP, et al.:  On June 27, 2007, a putative class action complaint was filed in the Circuit Court of Cole County, Missouri by the City of Jefferson, Missouri on behalf of itself and a putative class of Missouri cities, counties and governments that have enacted taxes on lodging.  In addition to the claim for hotel taxes, the complaint also asserted claims for violation of the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act, conversion, unjust enrichment, declaratory judgment, breach of fiduciary duties and a constructive trust.  On November 5, 2007, the defendants moved to dismiss the complaint.  That motion is being briefed.

 

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City of Gallup, New Mexico v. Hotels.com, L.P., et al.:  On July 6, 2007, a putative class action was filed in the United States District Court for the District of New Mexico by the City of Gallup on behalf of itself and a putative class of New Mexico taxing authorities that have enacted lodgers’ taxes.  The complaint asserts claims for violation of the New Mexico Lodger’s Tax Act and municipal ordinances.  On August 27, 2007, the defendants answered the City of Gallup’s complaint.  The parties are currently conducting discovery.

 

The Company intends to defend vigorously against the claims in all of the aforementioned proceedings.

 

Actions Filed on Behalf of Individual Cities

 

Several cities, counties, municipalities and other political subdivisions across the country have filed actions relating to the collection of hotel occupancy taxes against the Company and other defendants, including, but not in all cases, Lowestfare.com Incorporated and Travelweb LLC, both of which are subsidiaries of the Company, and Hotels.com, L.P.; Hotels.com GP, LLC; Hotwire, Inc.; Cheaptickets, Inc.; Cendant Travel Distribution Services Group, Inc.; Expedia, Inc.; Internetwork Publishing Corp. (d/b/a Lodging.com); Maupintour Holding LLC; Orbitz, Inc.; Orbitz, LLC; Site59.com, LLC; Travelocity.com, Inc.; Travelocity.com LP; and Travelnow.com, Inc.  In each, the complaint alleges, among other things, that each of these defendants violated each jurisdiction’s respective hotel occupancy tax ordinance with respect to the charges and remittance of amounts to cover taxes under each ordinance.  Each complaint typically seeks compensatory damages, disgorgement, penalties available by law, attorneys’ fees and other relief.  Such actions include:

 

City of Findlay v. Hotels.com, L.P., et al.:  On October 25, 2005, a putative class action complaint was filed in the Common Pleas Court of Hancock County, Ohio by the City of Findlay on behalf of itself and a putative class of Ohio cities, counties and townships that have enacted occupancy or excise taxes on lodging.  In addition to the tax claims, the complaint also asserts claims for violation of the Ohio Consumer Sales Practices Act, Ohio Revised Code Chapter 1345, et seq., conversion, a constructive trust and a declaratory judgment.  On November 22, 2005, the Company and certain other defendants removed this action to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio.  On January 30, 2006, the defendants moved to dismiss the complaint.  On July 26, 2006, the court granted defendants’ motion to dismiss the Consumer Sales Practices Act claims and denied defendants’ motion to dismiss the remaining claims.  On August 2, 2007, the City of Findlay filed a motion seeking leave to amend its complaint to withdraw its allegations seeking to assert claims on behalf of a state-wide class of Ohio cities, counties and townships that have enacted occupancy or excise taxes on lodging.  On August 15, 2007, the court granted that motion and an amended complaint withdrawing those class allegations was filed.  On September 4, 2007, the defendants answered the amended complaint.  On November 5, 2007, the parties jointly moved to consolidate the City of Findlay action with the City of Columbus action (discussed above) for pre-trial purposes, and that motion was granted on November 6, 2007.   On February 19, 2008, the cities of Columbus, Dayton and Findlay moved to amend their respective complaints to drop all class action allegations and to add nine additional Ohio municipalities as plaintiffs.   That motion is pending.

 

City of Chicago, Illinois v. Hotels.com, L.P., et al.:  On November 1, 2005, the City of Chicago, Illinois filed a complaint in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois.  In addition to the tax claims, the complaint also asserts claims for conversion, imposition of a constructive trust, and a demand for a legal accounting.  On January 31, 2006, the defendants moved to dismiss the complaint.  On September 27, 2007, the court denied the defendants’ motion to dismiss.  On November 2, 2007, the defendants answered the complaint.  The parties are currently conducting discovery.

 

City of San Diego, California v. Hotels.com L.P., et al.:  On February 9, 2006, the City of San Diego, California filed a complaint in Superior Court for the County of San Diego, California.  In addition to the tax claims, the complaint also asserts unfair competition claims under Section 17200.  On

 

35



 

March 31, 2006, the defendants filed with a petition to coordinate this matter with the City of Los Angeles case (discussed above).  On July 12, 2006, that petition was granted, and, as a result, this case was coordinated with the City of Los Angeles action and will proceed in the Superior Court of Los Angeles.  As discussed above, on March 1, 2007, the court denied defendants’ previously-filed demurrers to the City of Los Angeles’ Second Amended Complaint on misjoinder grounds, which the parties deemed applicable to the City of San Diego’s complaint.  On January 17, 2007, the defendants filed demurrers to the City of San Diego’s complaint on all issues other than misjoinder of defendants and claims.  On March 8, 2007, the City of San Diego filed an amended complaint.  On April 11, 2007, the defendants filed a renewed motion to dismiss the amended complaint.  On July 27, 2007, the court sustained the defendants’ demurrers and dismissed the City’s amended complaint without prejudice to re-filing upon the exhaustion of the City’s mandatory administrative procedures for tax collection, and stayed the action pending such exhaustion.  The City is presently conducting those administrative procedures.

 

City of Atlanta, Georgia v. Hotels.com L.P., et al.:  On March 29, 2006, the City of Atlanta, Georgia filed a complaint in the Superior Court of Fulton County, Georgia.  In addition to the tax claims, the complaint also asserts claims for a declaratory judgment, conversion, unjust enrichment, a constructive trust and a demand for an equitable accounting.  On June 5, 2006, certain defendants, including the Company and its subsidiaries, answered the complaint.  The parties proceeded to conduct discovery.  On October 12, 2006, as directed by the court, the defendants submitted briefs regarding the City of Atlanta’s failure to exhaust the administrative remedies dictated by Georgia law and its own ordinance.  On December 12, 2006, the court dismissed the City of Atlanta’s action for lack of jurisdiction because the City of Atlanta failed to exhaust mandatory administrative remedies prior to bringing suit.  On January 10, 2007, the City of Atlanta filed a notice of appeal to the court’s order deciding it lacked jurisdiction.  On October 26, 2007, the Georgia Court of Appeals affirmed the order of the Georgia Superior Court.  On November 5, 2007, the City moved for reconsideration of the October 26, 2007 opinion, and that motion was denied on November 13, 2007.  On December 10, 2007, the City filed a petition for certiorari with the Georgia Supreme Court.  The defendants have opposed that petition, which remains pending.

 

City of Charleston, South Carolina v. Hotel.com, et al.:  On April 26, 2006, the City of Charleston, South Carolina filed a complaint in the Court of Common Pleas, Ninth Judicial Circuit of South Carolina.  In addition to the tax claims, the complaint also asserts claims for conversion, a constructive trust and a demand for a legal accounting.  On May 31, 2006, defendants removed the case to the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina, Charleston Division.  On July 7, 2006, the defendants answered the complaint.  On January 23, 2007, the City of Charleston moved to amend the complaint to assert claims arising under the South Carolina Unfair Trade Practices Act.   On April 23, 2007, the court granted plaintiff’s motion for leave to amend its complaint to assert claims arising under the South Carolina Unfair Trade Practices Act, and plaintiff amended its complaint to assert such claims on May 14, 2007.  On April 26, 2007, the court granted defendants’ unopposed motion to consolidate this case with Town of Mount Pleasant (discussed below).  On June 4, 2007, the defendants moved to dismiss the amended complaint.  On November 5, 2007, the court denied that motion.  The parties are currently conducting discovery.

 

Town of Mount Pleasant, South Carolina v. Hotels.com, et al.:  On May 23, 2006, the Town of Mount Pleasant, South Carolina filed a complaint in the Court of Common Pleas, Ninth Judicial Circuit of South Carolina.  On July 21, 2006, the defendants removed the case to the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina, Charleston Division.  On September 15, 2006, the defendants answered the complaint.  On January 22, 2007, the Town of Mount Pleasant moved to amend the complaint to assert claims arising under the South Carolina Unfair Trade Practices Act.  On April 23, 2007, the court granted plaintiff’s motion for leave to amend its complaint to assert claims arising under the South Carolina Unfair Trade Practices Act, and plaintiff amended its complaint to assert such claims on May 14, 2007.  On April 26, 2007, the court granted defendants’ unopposed motion to consolidate this case with City of Charleston (discussed above).  On June 4, 2007, the defendants moved to dismiss the amended complaint.  On November 5, 2007, the court denied that motion.  The parties are currently conducting discovery.

 

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City of North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina v. Hotels.com, LP, et al.:  On August 28, 2006, the City of North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina filed a complaint in the Court of Common Pleas, Fifteenth Judicial Circuit of South Carolina.  On October 27, 2006, the Company and certain other defendants removed the case to the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina, Florence Division.  On December 1, 2006, the defendants filed their motion to dismiss the complaint.  On September 30, 2007, the court denied that motion.

 

Wake County v. Hotels.com, LP, et al.:  On November 3, 2006, Wake County, North Carolina filed a complaint in the General Court of Justice, Superior Court Division, Wake County, North Carolina.  In addition to the claim for Room Occupancy Taxes, the complaint also asserted claims for a declaratory judgment, an injunction, conversion, imposition of a constructive trust, an accounting, violation of North Carolina General Statute § 75-1, et seq., and breach of agency duties and statutory penalties.  On January 31, 2007, the defendants moved to dismiss this action.  On February 1, 2007, the defendants moved to designate the case as a complex business case subject to the jurisdiction of the North Carolina Business Court, to which plaintiff consented and the case was transferred to the Business Court.  On April 4, 2007, the Wake County, Dare County, Buncombe County and Dare County actions (discussed below) were consolidated for pre-trial purposes, and the following discussion applies to all four actions.  On May 7, 2007, the defendants moved to dismiss the Dare County and Buncombe County actions.  On November 19, 2007, the court granted in part and denied in part the motions to dismiss.  The court dismissed all claims for conversion, all claim for violation of North Carolina General Statute § 75-1, et seq.  The court also dismissed all claims brought by Cumberland County for that plaintiff’s failure to exhaust mandatory administrative remedies before filing suit.  The remaining claims brought by the other three plaintiffs survived the defendants’ motions.  The remaining parties are currently conducting discovery.

 

Cumberland County v. Hotels.com, LP, et al.: On December 4, 2006, Cumberland County, North Carolina filed a complaint in the General Court of Justice, Superior Court Division, Cumberland County, North Carolina.  In addition to the claim for Room Occupancy Taxes, the complaint also asserted claims for a declaratory judgment, an injunction, conversion, imposition of a constructive trust, an accounting, violation of North Carolina General Statute § 75-1, et seq., and breach of agency duties and statutory penalties.  On February 12, 2007, the defendants moved to dismiss this action and moved to designate the case as a complex business case subject to the jurisdiction of the North Carolina Business Court, to which plaintiff consented and the case was transferred to the Business Court.  On April 4, 2007, this action was consolidated with Wake County, which is discussed in further detail above.

 

Dare County v. Hotels.com, LP, et al.:  On January 26, 2007, Dare County, North Carolina filed a complaint in the General Court of Justice, Superior Court Division, Dare County, North Carolina.  In addition to the claim for Room Occupancy Taxes, the complaint also asserted claims for a declaratory judgment, an injunction, conversion, imposition of a constructive trust, an accounting, violation of North Carolina General Statute § 75-1, et seq., and breach of agency duties and statutory penalties.  On February 22, 2007, the defendants moved to designate the case as a complex business case subject to the jurisdiction of the North Carolina Business Court, and the case was thereafter transferred to the Business Court.  On April 4, 2007, this action was consolidated with Wake County, which is discussed in further detail above.

 

Buncombe County v. Hotels.com, LP, et al.:  On February 1, 2007, Buncombe County, North Carolina filed a complaint in the General Court of Justice, Superior Court Division, Buncombe County, North Carolina.  In addition to the Company and those subsidiaries named in certain of the foregoing litigations (Lowestfare.com Incorporated and Travelweb LLC), the complaint also names priceline.com LLC as a defendant.  The complaint seeks a declaratory judgment that the defendants are liable for occupancy taxes, as well as supplemental relief including, without limitation, an accounting and a determination of the amount of taxes due but unpaid.  Buncombe County designated its complaint as a mandatory complex business case subject to the jurisdiction of the North Carolina Business Court.  On April 4, 2007, this action was consolidated with Wake County, which is discussed in further detail above.

 

37



 

City of Branson v. Hotels.com, LP., et al.:  On December 28, 2006, the City of Branson, Missouri filed a complaint in the Circuit Court of Greene County, Missouri.  In addition to the claim for Tourism Taxes, the complaint also asserted claims for a declaratory judgment, conversion and a legal accounting.  On April 23, 2007, the defendants moved to dismiss the complaint, and that motion was denied on November 26, 2007.  The parties are presently conducting discovery.

 

Horry County, et al. v. Hotels.com, LP, et al.:  On February 2, 2007, Horry County, South Carolina and the Horry County Administrator filed a complaint in the Court of Common Pleas, Horry County.  The complaint seeks a declaratory judgment that the defendants are liable for occupancy taxes and that the plaintiffs are entitled to other relief, including penalties and interest.  On April 30, 2007, the defendants moved to dismiss the complaint.  On January 7, 2008, the court indicated that it would deny the defendants’ motion to dismiss, but no order has been entered.

 

City of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina v. Hotels.com, LP, et al.:  On February 2, 2007, the City of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina filed a complaint in the Court of Common Pleas, Horry County.  The complaint seeks a declaratory judgment that the defendants are liable for occupancy taxes and that the plaintiff is entitled to other relief, including penalties and interest.  On April 23, 2007, the defendants moved to dismiss the complaint.  On December 11, 2007, the court heard argument on that motion, along with the motion in the Horry County action (discussed above).

 

City of Houston, Texas v. Hotels.com, LP., et al.:  On March 5, 2007, the City of Houston, Texas filed a complaint in the District Court of Harris County, Texas.  In addition to the claim for violation of the Houston hotel occupancy tax ordinance, the complaint also asserted claims for conversion, constructive trust, civil conspiracy, and a legal accounting.  On April 30, 2007, the defendants filed special exceptions to the complaint.  On July 5, 2007, the court denied in part and granted in part the defendants’ special exceptions.  The court denied the special exceptions relating to the adequacy of the plaintiff’s allegations, but granted the special exceptions requiring the plaintiff to state with specificity the maximum amount of damages claimed.  On October 2, 2007, the City of Houston filed an amended complaint adding the Harris County Sports Authority as a plaintiff.  On October 15, 2007, the Company and the other defendants filed renewed special exceptions to the complaint and affirmative defenses.  On November 19, 2007, the court granted those special exceptions.  On January 22, 2008, the plaintiffs filed a second amended petition.  On February 4, 2008, the Company and the defendants filed renewed special exceptions to the petition and moved to dismiss the action.  The special exceptions and motion are pending.

 

City of Oakland, California v. Hotels.com, L.P., et al.:  On June 29, 2007, the City of Oakland, California filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.  In addition to the claim for violation of the City of Oakland’s Transient Tax Ordinance, the complaint also asserted unfair competition claims under California Business and Professions Code § 17200, et seq., and claims for conversion, unjust enrichment, punitive damages, a constructive trust and a declaratory judgment.  On September 18, 2007, the defendants moved to dismiss the complaint.  On November 6, 2007, the court granted the defendants’ motion and dismissed the City of Oakland’s complaint with prejudice for the City’s failure to exhaust its mandatory administrative procedures for tax collection.  On December 5, 2007, the City of Oakland filed a notice of appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.  That appeal is being briefed.

 

City of Madison v. Expedia, Inc., et al.:  On November 30, 2007, the City of Madison filed a declaratory judgment complaint in the Circuit Court for Dane County, Wisconsin seeking a declaration that the defendants are subject to the Madison hotel occupancy tax.  On January 23, 2008, the Company and the other defendants moved to dismiss the City of Madison’s declaratory judgment complaint on the basis that the City failed to exhaust its mandatory administrative remedies before filing suit.  That motion is pending.

 

38



 

Mecklenburg County v. Hotels.com LP, et al.:  On January 14, 2008, Mecklenburg County filed a complaint in the General Court of Justice, Superior Court Division, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina.  In addition to the claim for room occupancy taxes, the complaint also asserted claims for a declaratory judgment, an injunction, conversion, imposition of a constructive trust, an accounting, violation of North Carolina General Statute § 75-1, et seq., and breach of agency duties and statutory penalties.  At the time it filed the complaint, Mecklenburg also moved to designate the case as a complex business case subject to the jurisdiction of the North Carolina Business Court.  The Company and its subsidiaries accepted service of the complaint and are presently scheduled to move to dismiss, answer or otherwise respond to the complaint on or before March 24, 2008.  On February 19, 2008, this action was consolidated with Wake County, which is discussed in further detail above.

 

We have also been informed by counsel to the plaintiffs in certain of the aforementioned actions that various, undisclosed municipalities or taxing jurisdictions may file additional cases against the Company, Lowestfare.com Incorporated and Travelweb LLC in the future.  Some of those municipalities or taxing jurisdictions have sent the Company and/or its subsidiaries tax notices or demands, including Brunswick County and Stanly County, North Carolina, Jefferson County, Arkansas, City of North Little Rock, Arkansas, and the Pine Bluff Advertising and Promotion Commission.

 

The Company intends to defend vigorously against the claims in all of the aforementioned proceedings.

 

Consumer Class Actions

 

Marshall, et al. v. priceline.com, Inc.:  On February 17, 2005, a putative class action complaint was filed in the Superior Court of the State of Delaware for New Castle County by Jeanne Marshall and three other individuals on behalf of themselves and a putative class of allegedly similarly situated consumers nationwide against the Company.  The complaint alleged that the Company violated the Delaware Consumer Fraud Act, Del. Code Ann. Tit. 6, § 2511, et seq., relating to its disclosures and charges to customers to cover taxes under city hotel occupancy tax ordinances nationwide, and service fees.  The Company moved to dismiss the complaint on April 21, 2005.  On June 10, 2005, plaintiffs filed an amended complaint that asserts claims under the Delaware Consumer Fraud Act and for breach of contract and the implied duty of good faith and fair dealing.  The amended complaint seeks compensatory damages, punitive damages, attorneys’ fees and other relief.  On October 31, 2006, the court granted in part and denied in part the Company’s motion to dismiss.  The court dismissed all claims arising under the Delaware Consumer Fraud Act.  The court also dismissed all claims for breach of contract and the implied duty of good faith and fair dealing that relate to Company’s charges for service fees.  The court denied the Company’s motion to dismiss the breach of contract and implied duty of good faith and fair dealing claims as they relate to the Company’s charges to consumers to cover taxes under city hotel occupancy tax ordinances.  The parties are currently conducting discovery.  The plaintiffs have stated their intent to seek leave to amend their complaint.

 

Bush, et al. v. Cheaptickets, Inc., et al.:  On February 17, 2005, a putative class action complaint was filed in Superior Court for the County of Los Angeles by Ronald Bush and three other individuals on behalf of themselves and other allegedly similarly situated California consumers against the Company and several of the same defendants as named in the City of Los Angeles action (discussed above).  The complaint alleges each of the defendants engaged in acts of unfair competition in violation of Section 17200 relating to their respective disclosures and charges to customers to cover taxes under the above ordinances of the City of Los Angeles and other California cities, and service fees.  The complaint seeks restitution, relief for alleged conversion, including punitive damages, injunctive relief, and imposition of a constructive trust.  On July 1, 2005, plaintiffs filed an amended complaint, adding claims pursuant to California’s Consumer Legal Remedies Act, Civil Code §1750, et seq. and claims for breach of contract and the implied duty of good faith and fair dealing.  On December 2, 2005, the court ordered limited discovery and ordered that motions challenging the amended complaint would be coordinated with any

 

39



 

similar motions filed in the City of Los Angeles action.  Since that time, the Company has provided limited discovery and opposed the plaintiffs’ motion to compel further discovery.

 

The Company intends to defend vigorously against the claims in all of the aforementioned proceedings.

 

Other Possible Actions

 

At various times the Company has also received inquiries or proposed tax assessments from municipalities and other taxing jurisdictions relating to its charges and remittance of amounts to cover state and local hotel occupancy and other related taxes.  The City of New Orleans, Louisiana, the City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Miami-Dade County, Florida, Broward County, Florida, the City of Anaheim, California, and state tax officials from Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Indiana, among others, have begun formal or informal administrative procedures or stated that they may assert claims against the Company relating to allegedly unpaid state or local hotel occupancy or related taxes.  In addition, the State of New Jersey Department of Taxation has begun an audit related to the state’s Corporation Business Tax.  The Company is unable at this time to predict whether any such proceedings or assertions will result in litigation.

 

The Company intends to defend vigorously against the claims in all of the aforementioned proceedings.

 

Litigation Related to Securities Matters

 

On March 16, March 26, April 27, and June 5, 2001, respectively, four putative class action complaints were filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York naming priceline.com, Inc., Richard S. Braddock, Jay Walker, Paul Francis, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co., Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc., BancBoston Robertson Stephens, Inc. and Salomon Smith Barney, Inc. as defendants (01 Civ. 2261, 01 Civ. 2576, 01 Civ. 3590 and 01 Civ. 4956).  Shives et al. v. Bank of America Securities LLC et al., 01 Civ. 4956, also names other defendants and states claims unrelated to the Company.  The complaints allege, among other things, that priceline.com and the individual defendants violated the federal securities laws by issuing and selling priceline.com common stock in priceline.com’s March 1999 initial public offering without disclosing to investors that some of the underwriters in the offering, including the lead underwriters, had allegedly solicited and received excessive and undisclosed commissions from certain investors.  By Orders of Judge Mukasey and Judge Scheindlin dated August 8, 2001, these cases were consolidated for pre-trial purposes with hundreds of other cases, which contain allegations concerning the allocation of shares in the initial public offerings of companies other than priceline.com, Inc.  By Order of Judge Scheindlin dated August 14, 2001, the following cases were consolidated for all purposes:  01 Civ. 2261; 01 Civ. 2576; and 01 Civ. 3590.  On April 19, 2002, plaintiffs filed a Consolidated Amended Class Action Complaint in these cases.  This Consolidated Amended Class Action Complaint makes similar allegations to those described above but with respect to both the Company’s March 1999 initial public offering and the Company’s August 1999 second public offering of common stock.  The named defendants are priceline.com, Inc., Richard S. Braddock, Jay S. Walker, Paul E. Francis, Nancy B. Peretsman, Timothy G. Brier, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co., Goldman Sachs & Co., Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc., Robertson Stephens, Inc. (as successor-in-interest to BancBoston), Credit Suisse First Boston Corp. (as successor-in-interest to Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette Securities Corp.), Allen & Co., Inc. and Salomon Smith Barney, Inc.  Priceline, Richard Braddock, Jay Walker, Paul Francis, Nancy Peretsman, and Timothy Brier, together with other issuer defendants in the consolidated litigation, filed a joint motion to dismiss on July 15, 2002.  On November 18, 2002, the cases against the individual defendants were dismissed without prejudice and without costs.  In addition, counsel for plaintiffs and the individual defendants executed Reservation of Rights and Tolling Agreements, which toll the statutes of limitations on plaintiffs’ claims against those individuals.  On February 19, 2003, Judge Scheindlin issued an Opinion and Order granting in part and denying in part the issuer’s motion.  None of the claims against the Company were dismissed.

 

40



 

On June 26, 2003, counsel for the plaintiff class announced that they and counsel for the issuers had agreed to the form of a Memorandum of Understanding (the “Memorandum”) to settle claims against the issuers.  The terms of that Memorandum provide that class members will be guaranteed $1 billion in recoveries by the insurers of the issuers and that settling issuer defendants will assign to the class members certain claims that they may have against the underwriters.  Issuers also agree to limit their abilities to bring certain claims against the underwriters.  If recoveries in excess of $1 billion are obtained by the class from any non-settling defendants, the settling defendants’ monetary obligations to the class plaintiffs will be satisfied; any amount recovered from the underwriters that is less than $1 billion will be paid by the insurers on behalf of the issuers.  The Memorandum, which is subject to the approval of each issuer, was approved by a special committee of the priceline.com Board of Directors on Thursday, July 3, 2003.  Thereafter, counsel for the plaintiff class and counsel for the issuers agreed to the form of a Stipulation and Agreement of Settlement with Defendant Issuers and Individuals (“Settlement Agreement”).  The Settlement Agreement implements the Memorandum and contains the same material provisions.  On June 11, 2004, a special committee of the priceline.com Board of Directors authorized the Company’s counsel to execute the Settlement Agreement on behalf of the Company.  The Settlement Agreement was submitted to the Court for approval.  Subsequently, the Second Circuit reversed the District Court’s granting of class certification in certain of the related class actions.  As a result, the parties entered into a stipulation and order dated June 25, 2007 which terminated the Settlement Agreement.  The Company intends to vigorously defend against the claims in all these proceedings.

 

On May 3, 2007, the Company entered into a Stipulation and Agreement of Settlement (“Settlement Agreement”) to settle a class action lawsuit brought after its announcement that third quarter 2000 revenues would not meet expectations.  Under the terms of the Settlement Agreement, the class received $80 million in return for a release, with prejudice, of all claims against the Company and the individual defendants (the “Settling Defendants”) that are related to the purchase of the Company’s securities by class members during the class period.  The Company’s insurance carriers funded $30 million of the settlement.  As a result, the Company recorded a 2007 net charge of approximately $55.4 million representing its share of the cost to settle the litigation and cover related expenses.

 

The Company will continue to assess the risks of the potential financial impact of these matters, and to the extent appropriate, it will reserve for those estimates of liabilities.

 

Other Litigation

 

On January 6, 1999, we received notice that a third party patent applicant and patent attorney, Thomas G. Woolston, purportedly had filed in December 1998 with the United States Patent and Trademark Office a request to declare an interference between a patent application filed by Woolston and our U.S. Patent 5,794,207.  We are currently awaiting information from the Patent Office regarding whether it will initiate an interference proceeding.

 

From time to time, we have been and expect to continue to be subject to legal proceedings and claims in the ordinary course of business, including claims of alleged infringement of third party intellectual property rights.  Such claims, even if not meritorious, could result in the expenditure of significant financial and managerial resources, divert management’s attention from our business objectives and could adversely affect our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.

 

Item 4.  Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders

 

No matters were submitted for a vote of stockholders of priceline.com during the fourth quarter of the year ended December 31, 2007.

 

41



 

PART II

 

Item 5.  Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

 

Price Range of Common Stock

 

Our common stock is quoted on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol “PCLN.”  The following table sets forth, for the periods indicated, the high and low sales prices per share of the common stock as reported on the NASDAQ Global Select Market:

 

2007

 

High

 

Low

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

First Quarter

 

$

56.11

 

$

41.80

 

Second Quarter

 

69.40

 

53.33

 

Third Quarter

 

91.95

 

59.50

 

Fourth Quarter

 

120.67

 

79.15

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2006

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

First Quarter

 

$

24.98

 

$

21.06

 

Second Quarter

 

32.66

 

23.72

 

Third Quarter

 

37.16

 

25.62

 

Fourth Quarter

 

44.28

 

36.51

 

 

Holders

 

As of February 15, 2008, there were approximately 626 stockholders of record of priceline.com’s common stock, although we believe that there are a significantly larger number of beneficial owners.

 

Dividend Policy

 

We have not declared or paid any cash dividends on our capital stock since our inception and do not expect to pay any cash dividends for the foreseeable future. We currently intend to retain future earnings, if any, to finance the expansion of our business.

 

Equity Compensation Plan Information

 

Information required by Part II, Item 5, relating to Equity Compensation Plan Information will be included in our Proxy Statement relating to our 2008 annual meeting of stockholders to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission within 120 days after the end of our fiscal year ended December 31, 2007.

 

Performance Measurement Comparison

 

The following graph shows the total stockholder return through December 31, 2007 of an investment of $100 in cash on January 1, 2003 for priceline.com common stock and an investment of $100 in cash on January 1, 2003 for (i) the NASDAQ Market Index and (ii) the Hemscott Group Index.  The Hemscott Group Index is an index of stocks representing the Internet industry, including Internet software and services companies and e-commerce companies.  Historic stock performance is not necessarily indicative of future stock price performance.  All values assume reinvestment of the full amount of all dividends and are calculated as of the last day of each month:

 

42



 

 

 

 

 

Measurement
Point

 

Priceline.com
Incorporated

 

Internet Software 
& Svcs

 

NASDAQ
Market Index

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2002

 

100.00

 

100.00

 

100.00

2003

 

186.46

 

200.13

 

150.36

2004

 

245.73

 

252.24

 

163.00

2005

 

232.50

 

218.28

 

166.58

2006

 

454.27

 

207.19

 

183.68

2007

 

1196.46

 

221.50

 

201.91

 

Sales of Unregistered Securities

 

In 2007, a holder of our 2.25% Convertible Senior Notes converted approximately $50,000 in principal amount of notes into 819 shares of our common stock and holder of our 1% Convertible Senior Notes converted approximately $23,000 in principal amount of notes into 575 shares of our common stock.  See Note 12 to the Consolidated Financial Statements.

 

43



 

Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

 

The following table sets forth information relating to repurchases of our equity securities during the three months ended December 31, 2007:

 

ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(c) Total Number of

 

(d) Maximum Number (or

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shares (or Units)

 

Approximate Dollar Value)

 

 

 

(a) Total Number

 

(b) Average

 

Purchased as Part of

 

of Shares (or Units) that May

 

 

 

of Shares (or

 

Price Paid per

 

Publicly Announced

 

Yet Be Purchased Under the

 

Period

 

Units) Purchased

 

Share (or Unit)

 

Plans or Programs

 

Plans or Programs

 

October 1, 2007 – October 31, 2007

 

1,658

(3)

$

92.02

 

 

$

44,866,000

(1)

 

 

 

 

 

 

$

20,447,000

(2)

November 1, 2007 – November 30, 2007

 

2,758

(3)

$

95.27

 

 

$

44,866,000

(1)

 

 

 

 

 

 

$

20,447,000

(2)

December 1, 2007 – December 31, 2007

 

 

 

 

$

44,866,000

(1)

 

 

 

 

 

$

20,447,000

(2)

Total

 

4,416

 

$

94.05

 

 

$

65,313,000

 


 

1

Pursuant to a stock repurchase program announced on November 2, 2005, whereby the Company was authorized to repurchase up to $50,000,000 of its common stock.

 

 

 

 

2

Pursuant to a stock repurchase program announced on September 21, 2006, whereby the Company was authorized to repurchase up to $150,000,000 of its common stock.

 

 

 

 

3

Pursuant to a general authorization, not publicly announced, whereby the Company is authorized to repurchase shares of its common stock to satisfy employee withholding tax obligations related to stock-based compensation.

 

44



 

Item 6.  Selected Financial Data

 

SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA

 

The total liabilities amount for the years ended December 31, 2006, 2005 and 2004 included in selected financial data presented below has been restated.  See Note 21 to the Consolidated Financial Statements.  The following selected consolidated financial data presented below are derived from the Consolidated Financial Statements and related Notes of the Company, and should be read in connection with those statements, some of which are included herein.  Selected financial data reflects data related to the Agoda Companies, Booking.com B.V., Booking.com Limited and Travelweb LLC from their respective acquisition dates of November 2007, July 2005, September 2004 and May 2004.  The information set forth below is not necessarily indicative of future results and should be read in conjunction with Item 7, “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.”

 

 

 

Year Ended December 31,

 

 

 

2007

 

2006

 

2005

 

2004

 

2003

 

 

 

(In thousands, except per share amounts)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total revenues

 

$

1,409,409

 

$

1,123,103

 

$

962,660

 

$

914,372

 

$

863,661

 

Total costs of revenues

 

769,997

 

722,004

 

694,797

 

716,217

 

717,716

 

Gross profit

 

639,412

 

401,099

 

267,863

 

198,155

 

145,945

 

Total operating expenses

 

501,477

 

339,113

 

231,979

 

167,733

 

137,927

 

Operating income

 

137,935

 

61,986

 

35,884

 

30,422

 

8,018

 

Total other income (expense)

 

12,088

 

3,646

 

(181

)

1,405

 

1,567

 

Income tax benefit (1)

 

12,059

 

12,388

 

156,277

 

193

 

 

Equity in income (loss) of investees and minority interests

 

(5,000

)

(3,554

)

749

 

(511

)

2,331

 

Net income (1)

 

157,082

 

74,466

 

192,729

 

31,509

 

11,916

 

Net income applicable to common stockholders (1)

 

155,527

 

72,539

 

190,875

 

29,997

 

10,425

 

Net income applicable to common stockholders per basic common share (1)

 

4.13

 

1.88

 

4.87

 

0.78

 

0.28

 

Net income applicable to common stockholders per diluted share (1)

 

3.42

 

1.68

 

4.21

 

0.76

 

0.27

 

Total assets

 

1,350,856

 

1,105,648

 

754,028

 

542,082

 

337,784

 

Long-term obligations, minority interest and redeemable preferred stock (2)

 

646,702

 

656,420

 

313,942

 

268,562

 

139,063

 

Total liabilities (3)

 

754,713

 

721,136

 

347,828

 

325,155

 

175,207

 

Total stockholders’ equity

 

579,107

 

348,556

 

369,071

 

199,143

 

149,107

 

 


 

(1)

The Company recorded income tax benefits in the years ended December 31, 2007, 2006 and 2005, amounting to $47.9 million, $28.1 million and $170.5 million, respectively, resulting from a reversal of a portion of the valuation allowance on its deferred tax assets.

 

 

 

 

(2)

Includes convertible debt which is classified as a current liability as of December 31, 2007.

 

 

 

 

(3)

Total liabilities has been restated for the years ended December 31, 2006, 2005 and 2004. See Note 21 to the Consolidated Financial Statements.

 

45



 

Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

 

The following discussion should be read in conjunction with our financial statements, including the notes to those statements, included elsewhere in this Form 10-K, and the Section entitled “Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” in this Form 10-K.  As discussed in more detail in the Section entitled “Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements,” this discussion contains forward-looking statements which involve risks and uncertainties.  Our actual results may differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements.  Factors that might cause those differences include, but are not limited to, those discussed in “Risk Factors.”

 

Overview

 

General.  We are a leading online travel company that offers our customers a broad range of travel services, including airline tickets, hotel rooms, car rentals, vacation packages, cruises and destination services.  In the United States, we offer our customers a unique choice: the ability to purchase travel services in a traditional, price-disclosed manner or the opportunity to use our unique Name Your Own Price® service, which allows our customers to make offers for travel services at discounted prices.  Internationally, we offer our customers hotel room reservations in 60 countries and 22 languages.

 

We launched our business in the United States in 1998 under the priceline.com brand and have since expanded our operations to include, among others, the brands Booking.com and Active Hotels in Europe and Agoda in Asia.  Our goal is to be the leading worldwide online hotel reservation service and be the top online discount travel agent in the United States.  At present, we derive substantially all of our revenues from the following sources:

 

 

·

Transaction revenues from our Name Your Own Price® airline ticket, hotel room and rental car services, as well as our vacation packages service;

 

 

 

 

·

Commissions earned from the sale of price-disclosed hotel rooms, rental cars, cruises and other travel services;

 

 

 

 

·

Customer processing fees charged in connection with the sale of both Name Your Own Price® and price-disclosed airline tickets, hotel rooms and rental cars services. Priceline eliminated processing fees for its price-disclosed airline ticket service in June 2007;

 

 

 

 

·

Transaction revenue from our price-disclosed merchant hotel room service;

 

 

 

 

·

Global distribution system (“GDS”) reservation booking fees related to both our Name Your Own Price® airline ticket, hotel room and rental car services, and price-disclosed airline tickets and rental car services; and

 

 

 

 

·

Other revenues derived primarily from selling advertising on our websites.

 

Over the last several years, our business has transitioned from one driven primarily by domestic results to one driven primarily by international results.  Prior to 2004, substantially all of our revenues were generated within the United States.  In September 2004, we acquired Booking.com Limited, a U.K.-based online hotel service, in July 2005, we acquired Booking.com B.V., a Netherlands-based online hotel service, and in November 2007, we acquired Agoda Company, Ltd. (“Agoda”) and AGIP LLC (“AGIP,” and together with Agoda, the “Agoda Companies”), an online hotel service with operations in Singapore and Thailand.  During the year ended December 31, 2007, our international business — the significant majority of which is currently generated by our European operations — represented approximately 55% of our gross bookings, and contributed more than two-thirds of our consolidated operating income during that period.  We expect that throughout 2008 and beyond, our international business will represent a growing percentage of our total gross bookings and operating income.

 

46



 

International Trends.  The size of the travel market outside of the United States is substantially greater than that within the United States.  Historically, Internet adoption rates and e-commerce adoption rates of international consumers have trailed those of the United States.  However, international consumers are rapidly moving to online means for purchasing travel.  Accordingly, recent international online travel growth rates have substantially exceeded and are expected to continue to exceed the growth rates within the United States.  In addition, the base of hotel suppliers in Europe is particularly fragmented compared to that in the United States, where the hotel market is dominated by large hotel chains.  We believe online reservation systems like ours may be more appealing to small chains and independent hotels more commonly found outside of the United States.  We believe these trends have enabled us to become the top hotel service provider in Europe, and will allow us to successfully expand our service offerings internationally beyond Europe.

 

As our international operations have become significant contributors to our results and international hotel bookings have become of increased importance to our earnings, we have seen, and expect to continue to see, changes in certain of our operating expenses and other financial metrics.  For example, because our international operations utilize online affiliate and search marketing as the principal means of generating traffic to their websites, our online advertising expense has increased significantly since our acquisition of those companies, a trend we expect to continue throughout 2008 and beyond.  In addition, and as discussed in more detail below, since the acquisitions of Booking.com Limited and Booking.com B.V., we have seen the effects of seasonal fluctuations on our operating results change as a result of different revenue recognition policies that apply to our price-disclosed services (including our international hotel service) as compared to our Name Your Own Price® services.

 

Another impact of the growing importance that our international operations represent to our business is our increased exposure to foreign currency exchange risk.  Because we are conducting a significant and growing portion of our business outside the United States and are reporting our results in U.S. dollars, we face exposure to adverse movements in currency exchange rates as the financial results of our international operations are translated from local currency into U.S. dollars upon consolidation.  Our international operations contributed approximately $372.6 million to our revenues for the year ended December 31, 2007, which compares to $182.7 million for the same period in 2006.  Approximately $30.3 million of this increase is due to fluctuations in currency exchange rates.  If the U.S. dollar weakens against the local currency, the translation of these foreign-currency-denominated balances will result in increased net assets, net revenues, operating expenses, and net income or loss.  Similarly, our net assets, net revenues, operating expenses, and net income or loss will decrease if the U.S. dollar strengthens against local currency.

 

Domestic Trends.  While the online market for travel services continues to experience significant annualized growth, we believe that the domestic market share of third-party distributors, like priceline.com, has declined over the recent past and that the growth of the domestic online market for travel services has slowed.  We believe the decline in market share is attributable, in part, to a concerted initiative by travel suppliers to direct customers to their own websites in an effort to reduce distribution expenses and establish more direct control over their pricing.  In addition, airlines and hotel chains have generally experienced year-over-year increases in load factors (a common metric that measures airplane customer usage) and occupancy rates (a common metric that measures hotel customer usage), respectively, which leaves them with less excess supply to provide third party intermediaries like priceline.com.  Recent decreases in domestic airline capacity could further reduce the amount of airline tickets available to us.  Notwithstanding these trends, we continue to believe that the market for domestic online travel services is an attractive market with continued opportunity for growth.

 

The financial prospects of our domestic business have historically been significantly dependent upon the sale of leisure airline tickets and, as a result, the health of our domestic business has been impacted by the health of the airline industry.  While the sale of leisure airline tickets remains an important part of our business, revenue earned in connection with the domestic reservation of hotel room nights has come to represent a substantial majority of our domestic gross profit.  The domestic hotel

 

47



 

market has been characterized in recent years by robust demand and limited supply, leading to increased occupancy rates, and in turn, increased average daily rates (“ADRs”).  Because our remuneration for agency hotel transactions increases proportionately with room price, increased ADRs generally have a positive effect on our agency hotel business.  Higher ADRs, however, can also negatively affect consumer demand, and higher occupancy rates can lead hotels to restrict our access to merchant hotel availability, particularly in high occupancy destinations popular with our travel base.  Higher occupancy rates also have historically tended to drive lower margins as hotel suppliers have less need to distribute through third-party intermediaries such as us.

 

Recently, significant attention has been given to the state of the United States economy and concern has been expressed regarding certain recessionary trends.  We do not believe that our 2007 financial results were impacted by a slowdown in the United States economy, and we believe that our brands and services are attractive to consumers and suppliers in times of economic stress.  There can be no assurance, however, that our business would not be adversely affected if current economic conditions continue or worsen.

 

We also rely on fees paid to us by global distribution systems, or GDSs, for travel bookings made through GDSs for a portion of our gross profit and a substantial portion of our operating income.  Connectivity to a GDS does not guarantee us access to the content of a travel supplier such as an airline or hotel company.  We have agreements with a number of suppliers to obtain access to content, and are in continuing discussions with others to obtain similar access.  If we were denied access to a suppliers’ full content or had to incur service fees in order to access or book such content, our results could suffer.

 

We believe that our success will depend in large part on our ability to maintain profitability, primarily from our hotel business, to continue to promote the priceline.com brand in the United States, the Booking.com brand internationally, the Agoda brand in Asia and, over time, to offer other travel services and further expand into other international markets. Factors beyond our control, such as the outbreak of an epidemic or pandemic disease; natural disasters such as hurricanes, tsunamis or earthquakes; terrorist attacks, hostilities in the Middle East or elsewhere; or the withdrawal from our system of a major hotel supplier, could adversely affect our business and results of operations and impair our ability to effectively implement all or some of the initiatives described above.  We intend to continue to invest in marketing and promotion, technology and personnel within parameters consistent with attempts to improve operating results.  We also intend to broaden the scope of our business, and to that end, we explore strategic alternatives from time to time in the form of, among other things, mergers and acquisitions. In addition, we currently do not have operations in geographic areas such as South America, and therefore may consider strategic alternatives in those areas.  Our goal is to improve volume and sustain gross margins in an effort to maintain profitability. The uncertain environment described above makes the prediction of future results of operations difficult, and accordingly, we cannot provide assurance that we will sustain revenue growth and profitability.

 

Seasonality.  Our Name Your Own Price® services are non-refundable in nature, and accordingly, we recognize travel revenue at the time a booking is generated.  However, we recognize revenue generated from our retail hotel services, including our international operations, at the time that the customer checks out of the hotel.  As a result, a meaningful amount of retail hotel bookings generated earlier in the year, as customers plan and reserve their spring and summer vacations, will not be recognized as revenue until future quarters. From a cost perspective, however, we expense the substantial majority of our advertising activities as they are incurred, which is typically in the quarter in which bookings are generated.  Therefore, as our retail hotel business continues to grow, we expect our quarterly results to become increasingly impacted by these seasonal factors.

 

48


 


 

Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates

 

Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations are based upon our Consolidated Financial Statements, which have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. Our significant accounting policies are more fully described in Note 2 to our Consolidated Financial Statements. Certain of our accounting policies are particularly important to our financial position and results of operations and require us to make difficult and subjective judgments, often as a result of the need to make estimates of matters that are inherently uncertain. In applying those policies, our management uses its judgment to determine the appropriate assumptions to be used in the determination of certain estimates. On an on-going basis, we evaluate our estimates, including those related to the items described below. Those estimates are based on, among other things, historical experience, terms of existing contracts, our observance of trends in the travel industry and on various other assumptions that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances. Our actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions.  A summary of our significant accounting policies that involve significant estimates and judgments of management, including the following:

 

·                  Deferred Tax Valuation Allowance.  As required by SFAS No. 109, “Accounting for Income Taxes,” we periodically evaluate the likelihood of the realization of deferred tax assets, and reduce the carrying amount of these deferred tax assets by a valuation allowance to the extent we believe a portion will not be realized. We consider many factors when assessing the likelihood of future realization of our deferred tax assets, including our recent cumulative earnings experience by taxing jurisdiction, expectations of future income, the carryforward periods available to us for tax reporting purposes, and other relevant factors.  Based upon management’s assessment of positive and negative evidence, we recorded non-cash tax benefits in 2007, 2006 and 2005 of $47.9 million, $28.1 million and $170.5 million, respectively, resulting from a reversal of a portion of our valuation allowance on our deferred tax assets.  We believe that it is more likely than not that our remaining deferred tax assets will not be realized and, accordingly, a valuation allowance against those assets remains.  The valuation allowance may need to be adjusted in the future if facts and circumstances change.

 

·                  Stock-Based Compensation.  We record stock-based compensation expense over the service period based upon the grant date fair value of equity-based grants.  We estimate forfeiture rates in determining the amount of compensation to record.  In addition, we record stock-based compensation expense for grants that include a performance contingency based upon the estimated probable outcome at the end of the performance period.  We periodically adjust the cumulative stock-based compensation recorded when estimated forfeiture rates are adjusted, or when the probable outcome for performance-based shares is updated based upon changes in facts and circumstances.

 

·                  Accounting for State and Local “Hotel Occupancy” Taxes.  As discussed in Note 17 to our Consolidated Financial Statements, several jurisdictions have initiated lawsuits against several on-line travel companies, including us, alleging among other things, that sales or hotel occupancy tax is applicable to the differential between the price paid by a customer for our service and the cost of the underlying room. Historically, we have not collected taxes on this differential. Additional state and local jurisdictions could assert that we are subject to sales or hotel occupancy taxes on this differential and could seek to collect such taxes, either retroactively or prospectively, or both. To the extent that any tax authority succeeds in asserting that a tax collection responsibility applies to transactions conducted through the priceline.com service, we might have additional tax exposures.  We will continue to assess the risks of the potential financial impact of additional tax exposures, and to the extent appropriate, we reserve for those estimated liabilities.

 

49



 

·                  Allowance for Doubtful Accounts.  Because we act as merchant of record in the majority of our transactions, we may be held liable for accepting fraudulent credit cards on our website as well as other payment disputes with our customers. Additionally, we are also held liable for accepting fraudulent credit cards in certain retail transactions when we do not act as merchant of record. Accordingly, we calculate and record an allowance for the resulting credit card charge-backs. In addition, in connection with hotel agency transactions, we provide an allowance for doubtful accounts based on past experience and the age of commissions receivable.

 

·                  Valuation of Goodwill.  We have recorded goodwill related to businesses we have acquired including Booking.com B.V., Booking.com Limited, Travelweb, the Agoda Companies and priceline.com europe Ltd. Goodwill is reviewed at least annually for impairment using appropriate valuation techniques.  In the event that future circumstances indicate that any portion of our goodwill is impaired, an impairment charge would be recorded.

 

·                  Valuation of Long-Lived Assets and Intangibles.  We evaluate whether events or circumstances have occurred which indicate that the carrying amounts of long-lived assets and intangibles may be impaired or not recoverable. The significant factors that are considered that could trigger an impairment review include changes in business strategies, market conditions, or the manner of use of an asset; under performance relative to historical or expected future operating results; and negative industry or economic trends.  In evaluating an asset for possible impairment, management estimates that asset’s future undiscounted cash flows to measure whether the asset is recoverable. If it is determined that the asset is not recoverable, we measure the impairment based on the projected discounted cash flows of the asset over its remaining life.

 

·                  Airline Debit Memos. Our airline suppliers periodically send us debit memos that make claims for additional amounts due to them related to the cost of airline tickets we sold on their behalf.  We process the debit memos received and, when appropriate, make payments to the airlines.  Based on our historical experience and our contractual arrangements with the airlines, we establish reserves for estimated losses when appropriate resulting from these claims.

 

Results of Operations

 

Year Ended December 31, 2007 compared to Year Ended December 31, 2006

 

Operating Metrics

 

Our financial results are driven by certain operating metrics that encompass the selling activity generated by our travel services.  Specifically, sales of airline tickets, hotel room nights and rental car days capture the volume of units purchased by our customers.  Gross Bookings capture the total dollar value inclusive of taxes and fees of all travel services purchased by our customers.  International gross bookings reflect gross bookings generated principally by websites owned by, operated by, or dedicated to providing gross bookings for our international brands and operations, and domestic gross bookings reflect gross bookings generated principally by websites owned by, operated by, or dedicated to providing gross bookings by our domestic operations, in each case without regard to the location of the travel or the customer purchasing the travel.

 

50



 

Gross bookings resulting from airline tickets, hotel room nights and rental car days sold through our domestic and international operations in 2007 and 2006 were as follows:

 

 

 

Year Ended December 31,

 

 

 

 

 

2007

 

2006

 

Change

 

Domestic

 

$

2.154 billion

 

$

1.973 billion

 

9.2

%

International

 

$

2.675 billion

 

$

1.347 billion

 

98.6

%

Total

 

$

4.829 billion

 

$

3.320 billion

 

45.5

%

 

Gross bookings resulting from airline tickets, hotel room nights and rental car days sold through our agency and merchant models in 2007 and 2006 were as follows:

 

 

 

Year Ended December 31,

 

 

 

 

 

2007

 

2006

 

Change

 

Agency

 

$

3.585 billion

 

$

2.182 billion

 

64.4

%

Merchant

 

$

1.244 billion

 

$

1.138 billion

 

9.3

%

Total

 

$

4.829 billion

 

$

3.320 billion

 

45.5

%

 

Gross bookings increased by 45.5% for the year ended December 31, 2007, compared to the same period in 2006.  The increase was primarily attributable to 98.6% growth in our international gross bookings, virtually all of which relates to retail hotel room night sales (including the $223 million favorable impact of foreign currency exchange rates).  Domestic gross bookings increased by 9.2%, primarily due to growth in the sale of Name Your Own Price® hotel room nights, retail airline tickets due to the elimination of booking fees in June of 2007 and Name Your Own Price® rental car days, partially offset by a decrease in the sale of Name Your Own Price® airline tickets.

 

Agency gross bookings increased 64.4% for the year ended December 31, 2007, due to growth in our international hotel operations and in the sale of retail airline tickets due to the elimination of booking fees in June of 2007.  Merchant gross bookings increased 9.3% for the year ended December 31, 2007, due to an increase n the sale of Name Your Own Price® hotel room nights and an increase in the sale of Name Your Own Price® rental car days, partially offset by a decrease in the sale of Name Your Own Price® airline tickets.

 

Year
Ended

 

Airline
Tickets

 

Hotel
Room
Nights

 

Rental
Car Days

December 31, 2007

 

2.9 million

 

27.8 million

 

8.6 million

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

December 31, 2006

 

2.8 million

 

18.7 million

 

7.5 million

 

Airline tickets sold increased by 4.8% for the year ended December 31, 2007, over the same period in 2006.  The increase in the number of airline tickets sold in the year ended December 31, 2007, compared to the same period in 2006, was primarily attributable to an increase in the sale of retail airline tickets, partially offset by a decrease in the sale of Name Your Own Price® airline tickets.  Retail airline ticket bookings increased primarily due to our elimination of booking fees in June 2007.

 

51



 

Hotel room nights sold increased by 48.9% for the year ended December 31, 2007, over the same period in 2006, primarily due to an increase in the sale of agency room nights in connection with our international operations as well as an increase in the sale of Name Your Own Price® hotel room nights in the United States.

 

Rental car days sold increased by 15.6% for the year ended December 31, 2007, over the same period in 2006, due to increases in sales of both our Name Your Own Price® and retail rental car services.

 

Revenues

 

We classify our revenue into three categories:

 

·                  Merchant revenues are derived from transactions where we are the merchant of record and are responsible for, among other things, collecting receipts from our customers, selecting suppliers and remitting payments to our suppliers.  Merchant revenues include (1) transaction revenues representing the selling price of Name Your Own Price® airline tickets, hotel rooms, rental cars and price-disclosed vacation packages; (2) transaction revenues representing the amount charged to a customer, less the amount charged by suppliers in connection with the hotel rooms provided through our merchant price-disclosed hotel service; (3) customer processing fees charged in connection with the sale of Name Your Own Price® airline tickets, hotel rooms and rental cars and merchant price-disclosed hotels; and (4) ancillary fees, including GDS reservation booking fees related to certain of the aforementioned transactions.

 

·                  Agency revenues are derived from travel related transactions where we are not the merchant of record and where the prices of our services are determined by third parties. Agency revenues include travel commissions, customer processing fees and GDS reservation booking fees related to certain of the aforementioned transactions and are reported at the net amounts received, without any associated cost of revenue. In June 2007, we eliminated processing fees on the priceline.com price-disclosed airline ticket service.

 

·                  Other revenues are derived primarily from advertising on our websites.

 

We continue to experience a shift in the mix of our travel business from a business historically focused exclusively on the sale of domestic point-of-sale travel services to a business that includes significant sales of international point-of-sale hotel services, a significant majority of which are currently generated in Europe.  Because our domestic services include merchant Name Your Own Price® travel services, which are reported on a “gross” basis, while both our domestic and international retail travel services are primarily recorded on a “net” basis, revenue increases and decreases are impacted by changes in the mix of the sale of merchant and retail travel services and, consequently, gross profit has become an increasingly important measure of evaluating growth in our business.  Our international operations contributed approximately $372.6 million to our revenues for the year ended December 31, 2007, which compares to $182.7 million for the same period in 2006.  Approximately $30.3 million of this increase is due to fluctuations in currency exchange rates.

 

52



 

 

 

Year Ended
December 31,

 

 

 

($000)

 

 

2007

 

2006

 

Change

 

Merchant Revenues

 

$

1,002,824

 

$

904,169

 

10.9

%

Agency Revenues

 

398,246

 

213,900

 

86.2

%

Other Revenues

 

8,339

 

5,034

 

65.7

%

Total Revenues

 

$

1,409,409

 

$

1,123,103

 

25.5

%

 

Merchant Revenues

 

Merchant revenues for the year ended December 31, 2007 increased 10.9% compared to the same period in 2006, primarily due to an increase in the sale of Name Your Own Price® and merchant price-disclosed hotel room nights and Name Your Own Price® rental car days, partially offset by a decrease in the sale of Name Your Own Price® airline tickets.  In addition, as more fully discussed in Note 17 to our Consolidated Financial Statements, we recorded excise tax refunds of $18.6 million in merchant revenues in the year ended December 31, 2007.

 

Agency Revenues

 

Agency revenues for the year ended December 31, 2007 increased 86.2% compared to the same period in 2006, primarily as a result of growth in our international operations, which contributed $367 million of agency revenue for the year ended December 31, 2007, and $179 million of agency revenue for the year ended December 31, 2006. Approximately $30.0 million of this increase is due to fluctuations in currency exchange rates.  These increases were partially offset by declines in agency revenue related to the sale of price-disclosed airline tickets, for which priceline.com ceased charging processing fees in June 2007.

 

Other Revenues

 

Other revenues during the year ended December 31, 2007 consisted primarily of: (1) advertising revenues; and (2) fees for referring customers to pricelinemortgage.com for home financing services.  Other revenues for the year ended December 31, 2007 increased 65.7%, compared to the same period in 2006, primarily as a result of higher online advertising revenues due to new advertising partner relationships in 2007.

 

Cost of Revenues and Gross Profit

 

 

 

Year Ended
December 31,

 

 

 

($000)

 

 

2007

 

2006

 

Change

 

Cost of Merchant Revenues

 

$

769,997

 

$

722,004

 

6.6

%

% of Merchant Revenues

 

76.8

%

79.9

%

 

 

Cost of Agency Revenues

 

 

 

 

% of Agency Revenues

 

0.0

%

0.0

%

 

 

Cost of Other Revenues

 

 

 

 

% of Other Revenues

 

0.0

%

0.0

%

 

 

Total Cost of Revenues

 

$

769,997

 

$

722,004

 

6.6

%

% of Revenues

 

54.6

%

64.3

%

 

 

 

 

53



 

Cost of Revenues

 

During the year ended December 31, 2007, cost of revenues entirely reflect merchant Name Your Own Price® transactions, whose revenues are recorded “gross” with a corresponding cost of revenue while retail transactions are recorded “net” with no corresponding cost of revenues.

 

Cost of Merchant Revenues

 

For the year ended December 31, 2007, cost of merchant revenues consisted primarily of: (1) the cost of opaque hotel rooms from our suppliers, net of applicable taxes, (2) the cost of opaque airline tickets from our suppliers, net of the federal air transportation tax, segment fees and passenger facility charges imposed in connection with the sale of airline tickets; and (3) the cost of opaque rental cars from our suppliers, net of applicable taxes.  Cost of merchant revenues for the year ended December 31, 2007 increased 6.6%, compared to the same period in 2006, due primarily to the increase in merchant revenue discussed above.  Merchant price-disclosed hotel revenues are recorded at their net amounts, which are amounts received less amounts paid to suppliers and therefore, there are no associated costs of merchant price-disclosed hotel revenues.

 

Cost of Agency Revenues

 

Agency revenues are recorded at their net amount, which are amounts received less amounts paid to suppliers, if any, and therefore, there are no costs of agency revenues.

 

Cost of Other Revenues

 

For the years ended December 31, 2007 and 2006, there were no costs of other revenues.

 

Gross Profit

 

Total gross profit for the year ended December 31, 2007 increased by 59.4% compared to the same period in 2006, primarily as a result of increased revenue.  Total gross margin (gross profit expressed as a percentage of total revenue) increased during the year ended December 31, 2007, compared to the same period in 2006, because Name Your Own Price® transactions, whose revenues are recorded “gross” with a corresponding cost of revenue, represented a smaller percentage of transactions compared to retail, price-disclosed transactions which are primarily recorded “net” with no corresponding cost of revenues.  Gross profit and gross margin were also positively impacted by the $18.6 million excise tax refund recorded in merchant revenue in the year ended December 31, 2007 (see Note 17 to our Consolidated Financial Statements).  Because Name Your Own Price® transactions are reported “gross” and retail transactions are primarily recorded on a “net” basis, we believe that gross profit has become an increasingly important measure of evaluating growth in our business.

 

54



 

 

 

Year Ended
December 31,

 

 

 

($000)

 

 

2007

 

2006

 

Change

 

Merchant Gross Profit

 

$

232,827

 

$

182,165

 

27.8

%

Merchant Gross Margin

 

23.2

%

20.1

%

 

 

Agency Gross Profit

 

398,246

 

213,900

 

86.2

%

Agency Gross Margin

 

100.0

%

100.0

%

 

 

Other Gross Profit

 

8,339

 

5,034

 

65.7

%

Other Gross Margin

 

100.0

%

100.0

%

 

 

Total Gross Profit

 

$

639,412

 

$

401,099

 

59.4

%

Total Gross Margin

 

45.4

%

35.7

%

 

 

 

Merchant Gross Profit

 

Merchant gross profit consists of merchant revenues less the cost of merchant revenues. For the year ended December 31, 2007, merchant gross profit increased from the same period in 2006, primarily due to an increase in merchant revenue.  Merchant gross margin increased primarily because Name Your Own Price® transactions, whose revenues are recorded “gross” with a corresponding cost of revenue, represented a smaller percentage of transactions in the year ended December 31, 2007, when compared to merchant price-disclosed hotel transactions, which are recorded “net” with no corresponding cost of revenues.  In addition, merchant gross margin for the year ended December 31, 2007, was positively affected by the excise tax refund of $18.6 million included in merchant revenue (see Note 17 to our Consolidated Financial Statements).

 

Agency Gross Profit

 

Agency gross profit consists of agency revenues, which are recorded net of agency costs, if any.  For the year ended December 31, 2007, agency gross profit increased over the same period in 2006, primarily as a result of growth in bookings for retail agency hotel room nights for our international operations.

 

Other Gross Profit

 

During the year ended December 31, 2007, other gross profit increased from the same period in 2006 primarily as a result of higher online advertising revenues due to new advertising partner relationships in 2007.

 

55



 

Operating Expenses

 

Advertising

 

 

 

Year Ended
December 31, 

 

 

 

($000)

 

 

2007

 

2006

 

Change

 

Offline Advertising

 

$

35,963

 

$

31,831

 

13.0

%

% of Total Gross Profit

 

5.6

%

7.9

%

 

 

Online Advertising

 

172,676

 

$

113,822

 

51.7

%

% of Total Gross Profit

 

27.0

%

28.4

%

 

 

 

 

Offline advertising expenses consist primarily of: (1) the expenses associated with domestic television, radio and print advertising; and (2) agency fees, the cost for creative talent and production costs for television, radio and print advertising. For the year ended December 31, 2007, offline advertising expenses were higher than in the same period in 2006 primarily as a result of increased television and print advertising related to our “Negotiator” advertising campaign, partially offset by a decrease in radio advertising.  Online advertising expenses primarily consist of the costs of (1) search engine keyword purchases; (2) affiliate programs; (3) banner and pop-up advertisements; and (4) e-mail campaigns.  For the year ended December 31, 2007, online advertising expenses increased over the same period in 2006, primarily due to an increase in online advertising expenses to support significantly increased retail agency hotel room nights booked by our international operations, which rely primarily on online advertising, in particular keyword purchases and payments to affiliate advertisers, to drive their businesses, partially offset by the elimination of advertising fees paid under our agreement with Orbitz, which expired on December 31, 2006, and the impact of higher efficiency requirements (i.e., higher internal “return on investment” criteria) on other online spend.

 

Sales and Marketing

 

 

 

Year Ended
December 31,

 

 

 

($000)

 

 

2007

 

2006

 

Change

 

Sales and Marketing

 

$

47,158

 

$

42,119

 

12.0

%

% of Total Gross Profit

 

7.4

%

10.5

%

 

 

 

 

Sales and marketing expenses consist primarily of (1) credit card processing fees associated with merchant transactions; (2) fees paid to third-party service providers that operate our call centers; and (3) provisions for credit card chargebacks.  For the year ended December 31, 2007, sales and marketing expenses, which are substantially variable in nature, increased over the same period in 2006, primarily due to increased gross booking volumes.

 

56



 

Personnel

 

 

 

Year Ended
December 31,

 

 

 

($000)

 

 

2007

 

2006

 

Change

 

Personnel

 

$

102,992

 

$

79,421

 

29.7

%

% of Total Gross Profit

 

16.1

%

19.8

%

 

 

 

 

Personnel expenses consist of compensation to our personnel, including salaries, bonuses, taxes, employee health benefits and stock-based compensation. For the year ended December 31, 2007, personnel expenses increased over the same period in 2006, primarily due to increased personnel expenses associated with head count growth of our international operations and increased employee performance bonus expense.  Stock-based compensation expense was approximately $16.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2007 and $14.9 million, for the year ended December 31, 2006.

 

 

General and Administrative

 

 

 

Year Ended
December 31,

 

 

 

($000)

 

 

2007

 

2006

 

Change

 

General and Administrative

 

$

91,837

 

$

28,587

 

221.3

%

% of Total Gross Profit

 

14.4

%

7.1

%

 

 

 

 

General and administrative expenses consist primarily of: (1) fees for outside professionals, including litigation expenses; (2) occupancy expenses; and (3) personnel related expenses. General and administrative expenses increased during the year ended December 31, 2007, over the same period during 2006, due to (1) a $55.4 million expense related to our net cost of a litigation settlement, including related legal fees (see Note 17 to our Consolidated Financial Statements), (2) a $1.7 million one-time receipt of certain franchise tax credits in the third quarter 2006, (3) additional fees for outside professionals and expenses related to pending litigation, and (4) increased general and administrative expenses, particularly occupancy and personnel related expenses, associated with the growth of our international operations.

 

Information Technology

 

 

 

Year Ended
December 31,

 

 

 

($000)

 

 

2007

 

2006

 

Change

 

Information Technology

 

$13,779

 

$9,749

 

41.3

%

% of Total Gross Profit

 

2.2

%

2.4

%

 

 

 

 

Information technology expenses consist primarily of: (1) outsourced data center costs relating to our domestic and international data centers; (2) system maintenance and software license fees; (3) data communications and other expenses associated with operating our Internet sites; and (4) payments to outside consultants. For the year ended December 31, 2007, the increase in information technology expenses compared to the same period in 2006, was primarily associated with the growth of our international operations.

 

57



 

Depreciation and Amortization

 

 

 

Year Ended
December 31,

 

 

 

($000)

 

 

2007

 

2006

 

Change

 

Depreciation and Amortization

 

$

37,072

 

$

33,449

 

10.8

%

% of Total Gross Profit

 

5.8

%

8.3

%

 

 

 

 

Depreciation and amortization expenses consist of:  (1) amortization of intangible assets with determinable lives; (2) amortization of internally developed and purchased software, (3) depreciation of computer equipment; and (4) depreciation of leasehold improvements, office equipment and furniture and fixtures.  For the year ended December 31, 2007, depreciation and amortization expense increased from the same period in 2006, primarily as a result of increased depreciation and amortization related to investment in our international operations.

 

Restructuring Charge, net

 

 

 

Year Ended
December 31,

 

 

 

($000)

 

 

2007

 

2006

 

Change

 

Restructuring Charge, net

 

$

 

$

135

 

(100.0

)%

 

 

In the year ended December 31, 2006, we recorded a net restructuring charge of approximately $135,000 related to vacated leased property.

 

Interest

 

 

 

Year Ended
December 31,

 

 

 

($000)

 

 

2007

 

2006

 

Change

 

Interest Income

 

$

25,776

 

$

11,312

 

127.9

%

Interest Expense

 

(10,412

)

(7,060

)

47.5

%

Total

 

$

15,364

 

$

4,252

 

261.3

%

 

For the year ended December 31, 2007, interest income on cash and marketable securities increased over the same period in 2006, primarily due to higher prevailing interest rates and significantly higher cash balances throughout 2007, and including approximately $3.3 million of interest received on our excise tax refund.  Interest expense increased for the year ended December 31, 2007 over the same period in 2006, due primarily to increased average debt balances in 2007, as well as an increase in prevailing interest rates on the variable portion of the interest rate swap agreement related to our 1% Convertible Senior Notes.

 

58



 

Taxes

 

 

 

Year Ended
December 31,

 

 

 

($000)

 

 

2007

 

2006

 

Change

 

Income Tax Benefit

 

$

12,059

 

$

12,388

 

(2.7

)%

 

 

Income tax benefit for the years ended December 31, 2007 and 2006 differs from the expected tax expense at the U.S. statutory rate of 35% primarily because it includes benefits amounting to $47.9 and $28.1 million, respectively, resulting from a reversal of a portion of the valuation allowance on our deferred tax assets.  Other items resulting in a difference between our effective tax rate and the statutory rate include a tax benefit of approximately $3.6 million resulting from the recognition of foreign capital allowance carryforwards in 2007, the foreign tax benefit of interest expense on intercompany debt and lower foreign tax rates, partly offset by state income taxes in 2007 and 2006.  In the fourth quarter of 2006, the Netherlands enacted a reduction in its statutory tax rate from 29.6% to 25.5%, effective January 1, 2007.  In the third quarter of 2007, the United Kingdom enacted a reduction in its statutory tax rate from 30% to 28%, effective April 1, 2008.  We recognized benefits of $1.3 million and $3.0 million in the years ended December 31, 2007 and 2006, respectively, resulting from the impact on deferred taxes of these enacted statutory tax rate reductions.  Due to our significant net operating loss carryforwards, we do not expect to pay significant U.S. federal income taxes for the foreseeable future.  We expect to make cash payments for U.S. alternative minimum tax and for certain international taxes.

 

 

Equity in Income (Loss) of Investees and Minority Interests

 

 

 

Year Ended
December 31,

 

 

 

($000)

 

 

2007

 

2006

 

Change

 

Equity in Income (Loss) of Investees and Minority Interests

 

$

(5,000

)

$

(3,554

)

40.7

%

 

 

Equity in income (loss) of investees and minority interests for the years ended December 31, 2007 and 2006, represented (1) minority interests associated with the ownership of priceline.com International that is held by former shareholders of Booking.com B.V. and Booking.com Limited, including certain European-based managers of that business; and (2) equity in income (loss) of investees, principally comprised of our pro rata share of pricelinemortgage.com’s net results.  The change in equity in income of investees and minority interests versus the prior year was primarily due to an increase in the minority interest in the earnings of priceline.com International.  Also, the prior year includes a $1.1 million impairment charge to reduce the carrying value of our investment in pricelinemortgage.com to its estimated fair value.

 

59


 


 

Results of Operations

 

Year Ended December 31, 2006 compared to Year Ended December 31, 2005

 

Operating Metrics

 

Our financial results are driven by certain operating metrics that encompass the selling activity generated by our travel services.  Specifically, sales of airline tickets, hotel room nights and rental car days capture the volume of units purchased by our customers.  Gross Bookings capture the total dollar value inclusive of taxes and fees of all travel services purchased by our customers.

 

The number of airline tickets, hotel room nights and rental car days sold through our websites and the related gross bookings were as follows:

 

Year

 

Gross

 

Airline

 

Hotel

 

Rental

 

Ended

 

Bookings

 

Tickets

 

Room Nights

 

Car Days

 

December 31, 2006

 

$

3.3 billion

 

2.8 million

 

18.7 million

 

7.5 million

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

December 31, 2005

 

$

2.2 billion

 

2.8 million

 

11.8 million

 

5.8 million

 

 

Gross bookings increased by 49.1% for the year ended December 31, 2006, compared to the same period in 2005.  The increase was driven primarily by an increase of 85.6% in “agency” bookings for the year ended December 31, 2006, which was primarily attributable to (1) growth in our European operations, which are substantially comprised of Booking.com B.V. and Booking.com Limited, which were acquired in the third quarters of 2005 and 2004, respectively; (2) an increase in the average fare of our retail ticket service, and (3) the increased sale of retail rental cars.  Merchant gross bookings increased by 8.3% for the year ended December 31, 2006, over the same period in 2005.  The increase was primarily due to an increase in merchant gross bookings relating to our domestic retail hotel service, an increase in the average daily rate of our Name Your Own Price® hotel service and an increase in the sale of Name Your Own Price® rental car days.

 

Airline tickets sold increased by 0.2% for the year ended December 31, 2006, over the same period in 2005.  The increase in the number of airline tickets sold in the year ended December 31, 2006, compared to the same period in 2005, was primarily attributable to an increase in the sale of retail airline tickets, partially offset by a decrease in the sale of Name Your Own Price® airline tickets.

 

Hotel room nights sold increased by 58.6% for the year ended December 31, 2006, over the same period in 2005.  The increase in the number of hotel room nights sold in the year ended December 31, 2006, compared to the same period in 2005, was primarily due to growth in our hotel room nights sold through (1) our European operations, which are substantially comprised of Booking.com B.V. and Booking.com Limited, which were acquired in the third quarters of 2005 and 2004, respectively, and (2) our domestic retail hotel service.  This increase was partially offset by a decrease in the sale of Name Your Own Price® hotel room nights.  Our retail hotel service benefited from the enhanced integration of our retail and Name Your Own Price® services in the first quarter of 2006.   We believe that the benefit to our retail hotel service came partially at the expense of sales of Name Your Own Price® hotel room nights during the year ended December 31, 2006, as some amount of demand that may otherwise have been directed to the Name Your Own Price® service instead was directed to our retail hotel service.

 

Rental car days sold increased by 28.1% for the year ended December 31, 2006, over the same period in 2005, due to increases in sales of both our retail and Name Your Own Price® rental car services, which benefited from the launch of enhanced integration of retail and Name Your Own Price® services in

 

60



 

the first quarter 2006, as well as from the launch of new features in 2005, including options for one-way destination and off-airport car rentals.

 

We continue to experience a shift in the mix of our airline ticket business from a business historically focused exclusively on the sale of merchant (“opaque”) Name Your Own Price® travel services to a business that includes the sale of retail, price-disclosed travel services.  Because merchant Name Your Own Price® travel services are reported on a “gross” basis and retail travel services are primarily recorded on a “net” basis, revenue increases and decreases are impacted by changes in the mix of the sale of merchant and retail travel services and, consequently, gross profit has become an increasingly important measure of evaluating growth in our business.  Additionally, our European operations contributed approximately $182.7 million to our revenues for the year ended December 31, 2006, which are primarily recorded on a “net” basis.

 

 

 

Year Ended
December 31,

 

Change

 

 

 

($000)

 

 

 

 

 

2006

 

2005

 

 

 

Merchant Revenues

 

$

904,169

 

$

859,404

 

5.2

%

Agency Revenues

 

213,900

 

99,051

 

116.0

%

Other Revenues

 

5,034

 

4,205

 

19.7

%

Total Revenues

 

$

1,123,103

 

$

962,660

 

16.7

%

 

Merchant Revenues

 

Merchant revenues for the year ended December 31, 2006 increased 5.2% compared to the same period in 2005, primarily due to an increase in the sale of Name Your Own Price® rental car days, Name Your Own Price® hotel room nights, and vacation packages.  A substantial portion of the increase was due to services sold through our agreement with Orbitz, which we entered into on January 1, 2006.  Under our agreement with Orbitz, we paid fees in exchange for a link on the Orbitz website that directed traffic to the Name Your Own Price® service.  The agreement expired on December 31, 2006.  While the Orbitz agreement provided us with a good source of traffic, we believe it was likely dilutive in that many of the customers that we paid Orbitz for may have purchased our travel services anyway.  While the expiration of the Orbitz agreement may result in decreased merchant volume in 2007 — we estimate potentially up to approximately 5% of our 2007 merchant volume after taking into account estimated dilution - it frees up marketing dollars that we may use in other online channels.

 

Agency Revenues

 

Agency revenues for the year ended December 31, 2006 increased 116% compared to the same period in 2005, primarily as a result of (1) growth in our European operations, which contributed $179 million of agency revenue for the year ended December 31, 2006, and $67 million of agency revenue for the year ended December 31, 2005; and (2) increased sales of domestic retail hotel room nights and retail rental car days.  Results from our European operations are substantially comprised of Booking.com B.V. and Booking.com Limited, which were acquired in the third quarters of 2005 and 2004, respectively.

 

61



 

Other Revenues

 

Other revenues during the year ended December 31, 2006 consisted primarily of: (1) advertising revenues; and (2) fees for referring customers to pricelinemortgage.com for home financing services.  Other revenues for the year ended December 31, 2006 increased 19.7%, compared to the same period in 2005, primarily as a result of higher online advertising revenue related to the inclusion of results of operation from our online advertising company since it was acquired in June 2006.

 

Cost of Revenues and Gross Profit

 

 

 

Year Ended
December 31,

 

Change

 

 

 

($000)

 

 

 

 

 

2006

 

2005

 

 

 

Cost of Merchant Revenues

 

$

722,004

 

$

694,190

 

4.0

%

% of Merchant Revenues

 

79.9

%

80.8

%

 

 

Cost of Agency Revenues

 

 

607

 

(100.0

)%

% of Agency Revenues

 

0.0

%

0.6

%

 

 

Cost of Other Revenues

 

 

 

 

% of Other Revenues

 

 

 

 

 

Total Cost of Revenues

 

$

722,004

 

$

694,797

 

3.9

%

% of Revenues

 

64.3

%

72.2

%

 

 

 

Cost of Revenues

 

During the year ended December 31, 2006, cost of revenues increased 3.9%, compared to the same period in 2005, due primarily to the fact that merchant revenues increased comparably in the same period.  Cost of revenues entirely reflect merchant Name Your Own Price® transactions, whose revenues are recorded “gross” with a corresponding cost of revenue while retail transactions are recorded “net” with no corresponding cost of revenues.

 

Cost of Merchant Revenues

 

For the year ended December 31, 2006, cost of merchant revenues consisted primarily of: (1) the cost of opaque hotel rooms from our suppliers, net of applicable taxes, (2) the cost of opaque airline tickets from our suppliers, net of the federal air transportation tax, segment fees and passenger facility charges imposed in connection with the sale of airline tickets; and (3) the cost of opaque rental cars from our suppliers, net of applicable taxes.  Cost of merchant revenues for the year ended December 31, 2006 increased 4.0%, compared to the same period in 2005, due primarily to the fact that merchant revenues increased comparably in the same period.  Merchant price-disclosed hotel revenues are recorded at their net amounts, which are amounts received less amounts paid to suppliers and therefore, there are no associated costs of merchant price-disclosed hotel revenues.

 

62



 

Cost of Agency Revenues

 

Agency revenues are recorded at their net amount, which are amounts received less amounts paid to suppliers, if any, and therefore, there are no costs of agency revenues.  For the year ended December 31, 2005, cost of agency revenues consisted exclusively of non-cash amortization expenses associated with acquisition activity.

 

Cost of Other Revenues

 

For the years ended December 31, 2006 and 2005, there were no costs of other revenues.

 

Gross Profit

 

Total gross profit for the year ended December 31, 2006 increased by 49.7% compared to the same period in 2005, primarily as a result of increased revenue from (1) our European operations, which are substantially comprised of Booking.com B.V. and Booking.com Limited, which were acquired in the third quarters of 2005 and 2004, respectively; and (2) increased sales of retail hotel room nights.  The contribution to gross profit from airline ticket sales during the year ended December 31, 2006 was negatively impacted by a decrease in net GDS fees per ticket as compared to the same period in 2005, which contributed to lower margins on retail ticket sales in particular. Total gross margin (gross profit expressed as a percentage of total revenue) increased during the year ended December 31, 2006, compared to the same period in 2005, because Name Your Own Price® transactions, whose revenues are recorded “gross” with a corresponding cost of revenue, represented a smaller percentage of transactions compared to retail, price-disclosed transactions which are primarily recorded “net” with no corresponding cost of revenues.  Because Name Your Own Price® transactions are reported “gross” and retail transactions are primarily recorded on a “net” basis, we believe that gross profit has become an increasingly important measure of evaluating growth in our business.

 

 

 

Year Ended
December 31,

 

Change

 

 

 

($000)

 

 

 

 

 

2006

 

2005

 

 

 

Merchant Gross Profit

 

$

182,165

 

$

165,214

 

10.3

%

Merchant Gross Margin

 

20.1

%

19.2

%

 

 

Agency Gross Profit

 

213,900

 

98,444

 

117.3

%

Agency Gross Margin

 

100.0

%

99.4

%

 

 

Other Gross Profit

 

5,034

 

4,205

 

19.7

%

Other Gross Margin

 

100.0

%

100.0

%

 

 

Total Gross Profit

 

$

401,099

 

$

267,863

 

49.7

%

Total Gross Margin

 

35.7

%

27.8

%

 

 

 

Merchant Gross Profit

 

Merchant gross profit consists of merchant revenues less the cost of merchant revenues. For the year ended December 31, 2006, merchant gross profit increased from the same period in 2005, primarily due to an increase in the sale of domestic merchant price-disclosed hotel room nights and Name Your Own Price® rental car days.  The contribution to merchant gross profit from Name Your Own Price® airline ticket sales during the year ended December 31, 2006 was negatively impacted by a decrease in net GDS fees per ticket as compared to the same period in 2005.  A substantial portion of the increase in merchant gross profit was due to services sold through our agreement with Orbitz, as discussed above.  Our agreement with Orbitz expired on December 31, 2006.  Merchant gross margin increased primarily because Name Your Own Price® transactions, whose revenues are recorded “gross” with a corresponding

 

63



 

cost of revenue, represented a smaller percentage of transactions in the year ended December 31, 2006, when compared to merchant price-disclosed hotel transactions, which are recorded “net” with no corresponding cost of revenues.

 

Agency Gross Profit

 

Agency gross profit consists of agency revenues, which are recorded net of agency costs, if any.  For the year ended December 31, 2006, agency gross profit increased over the same period in 2005, primarily as a result of (1) growth in our European operations, which are substantially comprised of Booking.com B.V. and Booking.com Limited, which were acquired in the third quarters of 2005 and 2004, respectively; and (2) increased sales of retail hotel room nights and rental car days.

 

Other Gross Profit

 

During the year ended December 31, 2006, other gross profit increased from the same period in 2005 primarily as a result of higher online advertising revenues related to including results of operations from our online advertising company since it was acquired in June 2006.

 

Operating Expenses

 

Advertising

 

 

 

Year Ended
December 31,

 

Change

 

 

 

($000)

 

 

 

 

 

2006

 

2005

 

 

 

Offline Advertising

 

$31,831

 

$30,957

 

2.8

%

% of Total Gross Profit

 

7.9

%

11.6

%

 

 

Online Advertising

 

$113,822

 

$58,535

 

94.5

%

% of Total Gross Profit

 

28.4

%

21.9

%

 

 

 

 

Offline advertising expenses consist primarily of: (1) the expenses associated with domestic television, radio and print advertising; and (2) agency fees, the cost for creative talent and production costs for television and radio commercials. For the year ended December 31, 2006, offline advertising expenses were slightly higher than in the same period in 2005.  Online advertising expenses primarily consist of the costs of (1) search engine keyword purchases; (2) affiliate programs; (3) banner and pop-up advertisements; and (4) e-mail advertisements.  For the year ended December 31, 2006, online advertising expenses increased significantly over the same period in 2005, primarily due to an increase in online advertising expenses related to (1) supporting the growth of our European operations, which rely primarily on online advertising to drive their businesses and (2) an increase in our domestic online advertising, including fees paid pursuant to our agreement with Orbitz.

 

64



 

Sales and Marketing

 

 

 

Year Ended
December 31,

 

Change

 

 

 

($000)

 

 

 

 

 

2006

 

2005

 

 

 

Sales and Marketing

 

$

42,119

 

$

34,295

 

22.8

%

% of Total Gross Profit

 

10.5

%

12.8

%

 

 

 

 

Sales and marketing expenses consist primarily of (1) credit card processing fees associated with merchant transactions; (2) fees paid to third-party service providers that operate our call centers; and (3) provisions for credit card chargebacks.  For the year ended December 31, 2006, sales and marketing expenses, which are substantially variable in nature, increased over the same period in 2005, primarily due to increased gross booking volumes.

 

Personnel

 

 

 

Year Ended
December 31,

 

Change

 

 

 

($000)

 

 

 

 

 

2006

 

2005

 

 

 

Personnel

 

$

79,421

 

$

49,659

 

59.9

%

% of Total Gross Profit

 

19.8

%

18.5

%

 

 

 

 

Personnel expenses consist of compensation to our personnel, including salaries, bonuses, taxes, employee health benefits and stock-based compensation. For the year ended December 31, 2006, personnel expenses increased over the same period in 2005, primarily due to increased personnel expenses associated with head count growth of our European operations, which are substantially comprised of Booking.com B.V. and Booking.com Limited, which were acquired in the third quarters of 2005 and 2004, respectively, increased employee performance bonus expense and an increase in stock-based compensation due mainly to the adoption of SFAS 123(R) on January 1, 2006, which requires companies to record non-cash compensation expense related to stock-based awards granted to employees.  Stock-based compensation expense was approximately $14.9 million, for the year ended December 31, 2006, and approximately $4.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2005.

 

General and Administrative

 

 

 

Year Ended
December 31,

 

Change

 

 

 

($000)

 

 

 

 

 

2006

 

2005

 

 

 

General and Administrative

 

$

28,587

 

$

20,881

 

36.9

%

% of Total Gross Profit

 

7.1

%

7.8

%

 

 

 

 

General and administrative expenses consist primarily of: (1) fees for outside professionals, including litigation expenses; (2) occupancy expenses; and (3) business insurance. General and administrative expenses increased during the year ended December 31, 2006, over the same period during 2005, due to increased general and administrative expenses associated with the growth of our European operations, which are substantially comprised of Booking.com B.V. and Booking.com Limited, which

 

65



 

were acquired in the third quarters of 2005 and 2004, respectively, and additional fees for outside professionals and expenses related to pending litigation.  This increase was partially offset by the one-time receipt of certain franchise tax credits from the state of Connecticut in the amount of approximately $1.7 million.

 

Information Technology

 

 

 

Year Ended
December 31,

 

Change

 

 

 

($000)

 

 

 

 

 

2006

 

2005

 

 

 

Information Technology

 

$

9,749

 

$

10,622

 

(8.2

)%

% of Total Gross Profit

 

2.4

%

4.0

%

 

 

 

 

Information technology expenses consist primarily of: (1) system maintenance and software license fees; (2) data communications and other expenses associated with operating our Internet sites; and (3) payments to outside contractors. For the year ended December 31, 2006, information technology expenses decreased domestically from the same period in 2005, in part due to efficiencies resulting from the integration of Travelweb’s operations.  This decrease was partially offset by increased information technology expenses associated with our European operations, which are substantially comprised of Booking.com B.V. and Booking.com Limited, which were acquired in the third quarters of 2005 and 2004, respectively.

 

Depreciation and Amortization

 

 

 

Year Ended
December 31,

 

Change

 

 

 

($000)

 

 

 

 

 

2006

 

2005

 

 

 

Depreciation and Amortization

 

$

33,449

 

$

25,366

 

31.9

%

% of Total Gross Profit

 

8.3

%

9.5

%

 

 

 

 

Depreciation and amortization expenses consist of:  (1) amortization of intangible assets with determinable lives; (2) amortization of internally developed and purchased software, (3) depreciation of computer equipment; and (4) depreciation of leasehold improvements, office equipment and furniture and fixtures.  For the year ended December 31, 2006, depreciation and amortization expense increased from the same period in 2005, primarily as a result of increased non-cash acquisition related amortization expenses associated with our European operations, which are substantially comprised of Booking.com B.V. and Booking.com Limited, which were acquired in the third quarters of 2005 and 2004, respectively.

 

66



 

Restructuring Charge, net

 

 

 

Year Ended
December 31,

 

Change

 

 

 

($000)

 

 

 

 

 

2006

 

2005

 

 

 

Restructuring Charge, net

 

$

135

 

$

1,664

 

(91.9

)%

 

 

In the year ended December 31, 2006, we recorded a restructuring charge of approximately $135,000 related to vacated leased property.  In the year ended December 31, 2005, we recorded a net restructuring charge of approximately $1.7 million, consisting of a $2 million restructuring charge related to vacated leased property and a $336,000 restructuring reversal related to estimated costs to complete certain restructuring activities in Europe.

 

Interest

 

 

 

Year Ended
December 31,

 

Change

 

 

 

($000)

 

 

 

 

 

2006

 

2005