Kayak Swings to Quarterly Profit on Rising Online Travel Demand

Kayak Software Corp., the online- travel company that’s planning an initial public offering, reported a profit for the quarter ended in March amid rising demand for trip-planning information over the Web.

Net income was $4.15 million, or 11 cents a share, compared with a loss of $6.91 million, or $1.33, in the same period the previous year, the Norwalk, Connecticut-based company said today in a U.S. regulatory filing. Revenue rose 39 percent to $73.3 million.

Kayak is benefiting as consumers turn to the Internet for deals on flights and hotels. The company had 310 million user queries, up 45 percent from the same period a year earlier. Kayak had 3 million mobile applications downloaded in the quarter, up 43 percent.

Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Daniel Stephen Hafner received total compensation of $950,000 last year, down from $1.62 million in 2010. His salary was unchanged at $300,000, while last year’s package included a $650,000 bonus and the 2010 payout was increased by a $1.32 million options award.

To contact the reporter on this story: Lisa Rapaport in New York at lrapaport1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Tom Giles at tgiles5@bloomberg.net