Sharing its first quarter results, online travel company Ctrip.com has posted total revenues worth US$21 million during the three-month period. The figure represents a 61 percent increase from the same period in 2005 and one percent increase from the fourth quarter of 2005. (5/18/2006)

Net income for the first quarter of 2006 was RMB48 million (US$6 million) on a GAAP basis.

For the three-month period, hotel reservation revenues US$12 million, a 36 percent increase from the same period in 2005. The total number of hotel room nights booked was approximately 1.38 million. Air ticket booking revenues for the quarter were US$7 million, representing a 103 percent increase over the same period last year. The total number of air tickets sold in the first quarter of 2006 was approximately 1.28 million air tickets.

Despite the fact that the first quarter is normally the slowest season in a year for business travel, we achieved another record quarter in terms of our revenue growth. The continuously rapid growth in travel industry and the effective execution of our strategies in serving the frequent independent travelers market enabled us to increase our revenues across all three major product lines,?said Min Fan, chief executive officer, Ctrip.

For the second quarter of 2006, Ctrip expects to continue strong year-on-year net revenue growth of approximately 40 percent.

According to Reuters, Ctrip's shares, which fell 3.5 percent to close at $45.30 on Nasdaq, were up 7.3 percent to $49 in after-hours trading on Inet. The stock is up about 57 percent this year as investors bet increasingly wealthy Chinese will continue to travel.