Expedia posts bigger quarterly loss as pandemic impact takes toll

(Reuters) – Online agent Expedia Inc posted a bigger quarterly loss on Wednesday, as the COVID-19 pandemic decimated travel demand and kept people under government-mandated lockdowns.

As a result of the impact from COVID-19, the company incurred an intangible asset impairment charge of $121 million and a goodwill impairment charge of $765 million in the first quarter.

Net loss attributable to Expedia was $1.30 billion, or $9.24 per share, in the quarter ended March 31, compared with $103 million, or 69 cents per share, a year earlier.

Revenue fell 15.3% to $2.21 billion.

(Reporting by Sanjana Shivdas in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)