CLAIM #10676 · Booking Holdings Inc (BKNG) · 2023Q1 earnings call · May 4, 2023 · due Dec 31, 2023
“We continue to expect that our adjusted EBITDA margin will expand by a couple of percentage points versus 2022.”
David Goulden · CFO
In context
“Q2 sales and other expenses as a percentage of gross bookings to be about 40 basis points higher than last year due to higher merchant gross bookings mix and higher third-party call center costs, including the impact of our partnership with Majorelle. We expect our more fixed expenses in Q2 to grow about 25% year-over-year due to higher personnel and related expenses, indirect taxes and IT expenses. Taking all this into account, we'd expect future adjusted EBITDA to be around 35% higher than last year. In terms of our outlook for the year, we are not updating our previous full year commentary at this time. Our strong bookings in the first 4 months of the year created the potential for some upside but we want to see how the next few months develop before considering any updated commentary. We continue to expect that our adjusted EBITDA margin will expand by a couple of percentage points versus 2022. In closing, we're pleased with our Q1 results and the very strong growth in bookings for the summer. We'll now move to Q&A and Rob, could you please open the lines? Operator: [Operator Instructions] Your first question comes from the line of Justin Post from Bank of America. Justin Post: I guess 2 things. First, when you look at ROI in the marketing channels, how do you feel about that going into the summer? Are you seeing some advantages based on changes from some of your competitors? And then secondly, as you think about your overall use of cash, any reason why you can't just put buybacks to work for the next 5 years? Are there anything we should be thinking about on the debt side? Glenn Fogel: Well, Justin, why don't I take the second and then I'll let David talk specifically about ROI”
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SEC filings for BKNG ↗ · Claim quote is verbatim from the 2023Q1 earnings call.