Expedia beats profit estimates, announces $5 billion share buyback

(Reuters) - Expedia Group on Thursday announced a new share buyback plan of $5 billion after posting a better-than-expected quarterly profit, as the online travel booking company benefited from resilient demand and higher rates that boosted margins.

Shares of the Vrbo and Hotel.com operator rose 10% after the bell.

U.S. travel companies in the last few months has seen a sharp rise in demand for international travel as people free from restrictions take advantage of a strong dollar and flexible work arrangements to fly overseas for business and leisure.

An increase in bookings during the Independence and Labor day holiday weekend also lifted earnings for hotel operators and travel agencies in the third quarter.

It posted an adjusted profit of $5.41 per share in the July-to-September period, compared with analysts' estimate of $4.93 per share, as per LSEG data.

Expedia's total gross bookings across travel products rose 7% from the year-earlier period to $25.69 billion.

Its quarterly revenue rose 8.6% to $3.93 billion, versus estimates of $3.86 billion, as per LSEG data.

(This story has been corrected to say revenue rose 8.6%, not 7%, in paragraph 7)

(Reporting by Priyamvada C and Aishwarya Jain in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)

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