eLong Financial Report: In Q1 2012, the number of hotel room nights booked through eLong was approximately 2.8 million.

eLong Travel Network (LONG.NASDAQ) recently released its unaudited first quarter financial report for 2012. The number of hotel room nights booked through eLong in the first quarter was about 2.8 million, a year-on-year increase of 67% compared with about 1.7 million room nights in the same period last year. Net revenue (including business tax and surcharge) was RMB 153 million (equivalent to US$24.3 million), a year-on-year increase of 23% compared with RMB 125 million (equivalent to US$19 million) in the same period last year.

The financial report shows that eLong's domestic hotel network continued to expand in the first quarter, increasing by 46% to more than 28,000 hotels compared with more than 19,200 hotels in the same period last year, and now has grown to more than 30,000. At the same time, eLong has more than 150,000 international hotels for customers to choose to book through direct connection with Expedia. Online hotel bookings accounted for more than two-thirds of all hotel bookings in the first quarter, while the proportion of online hotel bookings in the first quarter of last year was less than half.

eLong said that total revenue from hotel booking business in the first quarter increased by 36% year-on-year, mainly due to the increase in the number of hotel room nights, but was partially offset by the reduction in hotel per night commission. The number of hotel room nights booked through eLong in the first quarter was about 2.8 million, an increase of 67% compared with the same period last year. The commission per night in the first quarter decreased by 19% compared with the same period last year, mainly due to the rapid growth of the number of room nights in lower-priced hotels and group-purchased hotels, and the increase in the number of hotel room nights for guests using consumption coupons. The proportion of hotel booking business revenue to total revenue increased from 68% in the same period last year to 75% in the first quarter of 2012.

eLong announced plans to build its second customer service center in Hefei, the capital of Anhui Province, and it is expected that the second customer service center will be put into use in the second half of 2012. eLong expects its net revenue (including business tax and surcharge) in the second quarter of this year to be in the range of 20% to 30% compared with the same period in the second quarter of 2011.