By Nick Turner - Nov 2, 2011 4:56 AM GMT+0700
OpenTable Inc. (OPEN), the restaurant- reservation website, tumbled as much as 16 percent in extended trading after third-quarter sales missed analysts’ estimates.
Revenue rose 40 percent to $34.4 million, the San Francisco-based company said today in a statement. Analysts had projected $35.8 million, according to Bloomberg data. Excluding some items, profit was 30 cents a share, matching predictions.
While OpenTable is attracting more restaurants and diners to its network, the company faces a sluggish economy, rising employee costs and mounting competition. Google Inc. pushed deeper into the market in September with the acquisition of the Zagat restaurant guides.
OpenTable plunged as much as $7.10 to $36 in late trading following the report. The shares, already down 39 percent this year, had closed at $43.10.
Operating expenses jumped 43 percent to $28.5 million, outpacing sales growth. The costs were fueled by a 51 percent increase in staff, the company said. Net income rose 5.8 percent to $4.06 million, or 17 cents a share, from $3.84 million, or 16 cents, a year earlier.
OpenTable now works with 23,866 restaurants, a 57 percent increase from the year-earlier period. The number of seated diners who used the service climbed 48 percent to 23.6 million in the quarter. Toptable.com, a 2010 acquisition, helped boost international reservations, the company said.
“We’re pleased with the progress we made in our international segment,” Chief Executive Officer Matt Roberts said in the statement.
To contact the reporter on this story: Nick Turner in San Francisco at nturner7@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Thomas Giles at tgiles5@bloomberg.net
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