Booking.com: Wages and bonuses surge as UK sales jump

Wages and bonuses surged at the UK arm of Booking.com as its turnover jumped by £50m during its latest financial year.

The division’s wage bill jumped from £20.7m to £32.2m in 2023 because of a surge in salaries and bonuses handed out to top staff.

The increase comes as its headcount grew to almost 300 in the year and its turnover jumped from £100.6m to £151m, according to newly-filed accounts with Companies House.

The new results also revealed that Booking.com’s pre-tax profit dipped from £40.5m to £36.5m over the same period.

Expansion drives sales surge at Booking.com

A statement signed off by the board said: “The 10 per cent increase in net stay commission (NSC) revenue is a result of continued improvement in economic factors and steady growth.

“The 59 per cent increase in cost-plus and other revenue is primarily the result of an increase of 207 per cent of costs paid to payment service providers in 2023, £27.3m, compared with £8.8m in 2022 and of continued increases in employee costs arising from an average headcount increase of 63 from 236 in 2022 to 299 in 2023 and higher salaries and bonuses.

“The increase in EBITDA [earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation] of 38 per cent to £48.6m is driven by an increase in service fee revenue.”

The UK results come after Booking Holdings, the company that owns Booking.com, reported a total revenue of $21.4bn for 2023, a 25 per cent increase from the previous 12 months.

Booking.com is headquartered in Amsterdam and is one of the largest online travel agencies in the world.

It was founded in 1996 while its parent, Booking Holdings, is listed on the US Nasdaq.

As well as Booking.com, Booking Holdings owns the likes of Priceline.com, Agoda, Kayak, Cheapflights, Rentalcars.com, Momondo and OpenTable.