(Bloomberg) -- Expedia Group Inc. withdrew its full-year earnings forecast and updated first-quarter guidance amid a worsening impact from the coronavirus pandemic that's gutting the global travel sector.
The Seattle-based company said the spread of the coronavirus would negatively impact first-quarter adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization “in excess” of the $30 million to $40 million it predicted in mid-February.
“As Covid-19 has rapidly spread from Asia to Europe and North America over the past few weeks, travel trends have continued to worsen,” Chairman Barry Diller and Vice Chairman Peter Kern said in a statement Friday. It remains difficult to predict how long this pandemic will persist, and given the lack of visibility on our trends we've decided to withdraw our 2020 guidance.”
The travel sector has been among the hardest hit in the outbreak. On Monday Expedia's rival, Booking Holdings Inc., also withdrew its already bleak forecast that was given less than two weeks ago.
To contact the reporter on this story: Olivia Carville in New York at ocarville1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jillian Ward at jward56@bloomberg.net, Molly Schuetz
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