UPDATE 1-Priceline posts quarterly profit on bookings spike
* Third quarter net profit $6.42/shr vs $1.74/shr year ago
* Gross bookings up 32.8 percent
* Shares up 6 percent in after-hours trade
CHICAGO, Nov 9 (Reuters) - Online travel agency Priceline.com (PCLN.O) posted a higher quarterly profit on a spike in bookings during an "exceptionally strong" summer travel season.
The company said on Monday its third-quarter profit amounted to $319 million, or $6.42 per share, compared with $84.5 million, or $1.74 per share, a year earlier.
Net income was helped by a $181.9 million non-cash tax benefit from reversing a portion of the valuation allowance related to Priceline's net operating loss carry forwards.
Excluding items, the company earned $3.45 per share. Wall Street analysts had expected Priceline to earn $2.92 per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
The travel industry has generally suffered this year as economic turmoil eroded demand. but online travel agencies have stimulated bookings with fee waivers and promotions.
"Despite a difficult economic environment, the summer travel season turned out to be an exceptionally strong one for Priceline.com," said Chief Executive Jeffery Boyd in a statement.
The company, best known for its name-your-own-price auction, said the total value of its bookings rose 32.8 percent to $2.7 billion.
Priceline said it expects the value of its travel bookings to increase by 30 percent in the fourth quarter and revenue to increase by 24 percent to 28 percent.
Shares of Priceline were up six percent $184.60 in after-hours trading from a Nasdaq regular session closing price of $173.73. (Reporting by Kyle Peterson; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)
