CHICAGO (Reuters) - Expedia Inc <EXPE.O>, the No. 1 online travel agency, said on Thursday that first-quarter profit rose on a 20 percent increase in bookings.
Net earnings amounted to $51.3 million, or 17 cents per share, compared with $34.8 million, or 11 cents per share, a year earlier.
Revenue increased 25 percent to $687.8 million.
Expedia said its travel bookings increased 20 percent to $5.9 billion. North American bookings were up 15 percent, while European bookings rose 34 percent.
U.S. online travel agencies have been racing to expand into Europe and Asia in hopes of capturing a larger share of those budding Internet travel markets.
(Reporting by Kyle Peterson; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)
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