(Yicai) Sept. 5 -- Trip.Com Group, the Chinese owner of Skyscanner, Ctrip, and Qunar platforms, recorded a more than 15-fold increase in net profit in the second quarter as more travelers made their first post-pandemic trips, and mostly inside China.

From April to June, the online travel agency expanded its net profit by over 1,400 percent to CNY648 million (USD89 million) from a year ago, the Shanghai-based firm announced in its earnings report today. Revenue almost tripled to CNY11.2 billion (USD1.5 billion).

Trip.Com remains optimistic about long-term travel demand and market prospects, per Liang Jianzhang, executive chairman. However, the firm did not disclose any earnings guidance.

In the second quarter, most sales came from transport ticketing as the core segment grew by nearly three times to CNY4.8 billion (USD657.1 million). But accommodation revenue rose quicker at nearly 220 percent to CNY4.3 billion. Tours surged by almost six times to about CNY722 million whereas business travel services jumped by nearly three times to CNY584 million.

The number of hotel bookings on all platforms increased by 160 percent to a record high while flight bookings nearly doubled to an all-time high. On domestic platforms, including Ctrip and Qunar, hotel reservations soared even more at 170 percent and rose by 60 percent from 2019, a time before the pandemic. People are still making fewer trips abroad but outbound hotel and air ticket bookings recovered to equal more than 60 percent of the same period in 2019.

In terms of sales, Trip.Com has overcome the Covid-19 pandemic as revenue rose by 29 percent in the second quarter from the same period in 2019. Profitability turned positive from negative as the firm reported a net loss of CNY403 million four years ago.

This year has been great for Trip.Com as in the first half, the company’s net profit tallied CNY4 billion, compared to a net loss of CNY958 million a year earlier during the pandemic. Revenue skyrocketed by more than 25 times to CNY20.5 billion (USD2.8 billion).

However, the stellar numbers failed to convert into equity movements. Trip.Com's Hong Kong-listed shares [HKG: 9961] dropped by 7.9 percent to close at HKD303.60 (USD38.70). Still, the equity price is almost 12 percent up since the beginning of this year.

Editor: Emmi Laine