(Reuters) - Shares of Expedia Inc (>> Expedia Inc) fell as much as 5.4 percent on Monday following reports that the online travel provider's long-standing chief executive, Dara Khosrowshahi, is joining Uber Technologies as its CEO, triggering concerns his exit might hurt the company's growth.

Expedia's stock fell to $141.21, recording its biggest intraday percentage loss in more than one year.

In Khosrowshahi, Uber's board has picked an executive with a track record of driving growth while also delivering profits - precisely what the unprofitable Uber needs to satisfy investors, Reuters reported on Sunday.

"Khosrowshahi leaving is a major loss for Expedia, which will likely sell off as a result," Cowen & Co analyst Kevin Kopelman wrote in a note.

Khosrowshahi's departure would come at a crucial time for Expedia, which spent much of 2016 integrating its acquisitions of rival Orbitz Worldwide Inc and vacation rental site HomeAway Inc, J.P. Morgan analyst Doug Anmuth said.

"We view Expedia's operations in 2017 as back to basics with the company re-focused on improving search, increasing conversion rates, and building out supply — all core tenets of the OTA (online travel agency) ecosystem," Anmuth said.

During Khosrowshahi's 12-year tenure, Expedia's share price has increased eight times, while its market capitalisation has expanded by $18 billion (13.93 billion pounds), RBC Capital Markets analyst Mark Mahaney said.

The company has gone from about $16 billion in bookings and $700 million in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation in 2005 to $72 billion in bookings and $1.6 billion in EBITDA in 2016, according to Mahaney.

"While execution under Khosrowshahi hasn't been flawless, it has been exceptionally good. He has been a major factor behind the success of the company over the past dozen years," Mahaney said.

In the race for the Uber top post, Khosrowshahi beat out General Electric Co (>> General Electric Company) Chairman Jeff Immelt, who said earlier on Sunday he was no longer in the running.

Meg Whitman, CEO of Hewlett Packard Enterprise (>> Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co), had also been a leading candidate, but she last month denied having any interest in the job.

Cowen's Kopelman, however, believes that Expedia has a strong management bench, with largely independent teams of seasoned executives in place running the company's major divisions.

Up to Friday's close of $149.26, Expedia's stock had risen about 32 percent this year, compared with a 29.4 percent increase in the Dow Jones Internet Commerce index <.DJECOM>.

(Reporting by Rachit Vats and Ankit Ajmera in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)

By Ankit Ajmera