NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's) April 9, 2007--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that it placed its ratings, including the 'B' corporate credit rating, on online travel agency Priceline.com Inc. on CreditWatch with positive implications. "The positive CreditWatch listing indicates the possibility of upward rating movement based on good revenue and profitability growth and a solid competitive position in Europe," said Standard&Poor's credit analyst Andy Liu. The strong financial performance was driven by Booking.com, the company's European hotel-booking engine, and Priceline.com's "name your own price" (or opaque) domestic travel services. Booking.com increased gross bookings 101% year-over-year and is gaining market share. This resulted primarily from Booking.com's better hotel coverage of secondary and tertiary tourist destinations in Europe.
