Better than expected financial results for the largest US travel reservation service

Priceline Group Inc. (PCLN), the largest U.S. online travel-reservation service, reported better-than-forecast second-quarter bookings as more consumers used its websites to plan summer trips.Bookings in the recent period rose 34 percent to $13.5 billion, the Norwalk, Connecticut-based company said today in a statement. That topped Priceline’s May projection for a 32 percent gain. Third-quarter bookings may jump as much as 29 percent, the company said.Priceline is expanding beyond travel reserva.. read more