TripAdvisor Ad Spending Takes A Chunk Out of Q4 Earnings

TripAdvisor’s fourth quarter TV ad campaign took a chunk out of earnings and margins, the company reported.

For the fourth quarter, when the ad campaign began in earnest, TripAdvisor’s adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) came in at $52.2 million with a 25% margin compared with $64.3 adjusted EBITDA and a 38% margin a year earlier.

TripAdvisor didn’t advertise on TV at all in January 2014, and the company will likely address the reasons for that in its upcoming earnings call today.

Overall for the fourth quarter of 2013, TripAdvisor notched $20.3 million in net income, a 39.6% decrease compared with Q4 2012. Revenue increased 26% to $212.7 million.

Revenue from Expedia was $46.4 million during the fourth quarter, a 17% increase. TripAdvisor’s revenue from former partner Expedia Inc. accounted for 21.8% of TripAdvisor’s total revenue during the fourth quarter.

In other highlights, TripAdvisor says it attracted more than 2 billion unique visitors during 2013.