NEWS    priceline.com Inc. posted a wider loss amid continued weakness in airline ticket sales. The Norwalk, Conn., seller of discounted air fares and hotel rooms reported a fourth-quarter loss of $7.4 million, or three cents a share, compared with a loss of $1.3 million, or a penny a share, in the year-earlier period. The latest quarter included a restructuring charge of $4.7 million. Revenue fell 16% to $197.3 million from $235.3 million a year earlier. Discussing the current first quarter, priceline.com said it booked revenue in January of about $62 million, which the company said reflected continued weakness in "opaque" airline ticket sales, offset partially by continued strong hotel performance. It said performance in February and March should improve from January, barring a major war or terrorist event. The company expects to return to profitability by the second quarter. priceline.com has been trying to shift its business away from opaque "name your own price" services, pushing discounted hotel rooms and travel packages instead. President and Chief Executive Jeffery H. Boyd said airline-ticket weakness was partly offset by a surge in hotel-room business, as that segment sold nearly one million room nights. For the full year, hotel-room nights sold were up 47% from 2001. priceline.com expects airline weakness to "continue to put pressure on our opaque airline ticket sales," Mr. Boyd said. "However, we believe that total travel bookings and revenue in our other businesses -- hotels, packages, rental cars and retail offerings -- will continue to grow." He said the company expects the growth to fully offset the airline weakness "sometime in the second half of this year."