LONDON, Feb. 12, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- lastminute.com -- Results highlights:
- Continued improved performance* 68.3% increase in Total Transaction Value to 146.6 million Pounds (Q1 2003: 87.1 million Pounds)
- Number of items sold increased by 71.9% year-on-year
- 23.2% proforma organic like-for-like growth in the Quarter growing to 36.6% in January 2004
- 120.8% increase in gross profit to 25.0 million Pounds (Q1 2003: 11.3 million Pounds). Gross margin for the Quarter improved by 4.1 percentage points to 17.1% (Q1 2003: 13.0%)
- 31.2% improvement in EBITDA from a loss of 1.6 million Pounds (Q1 2003) to a loss of 1.1 million Pounds
- Quarter 1 loss per share of 1.78p (Q1 2003: loss 1.61p)
- Overall net cash balances remain strong at the end of Quarter 1 2004 at 61.3 million Pounds (Q1 2003: 41.9 million Pounds)
- Completed the acquisition of Med Hotels in the Quarter and First Option Hotel Reservations at the start of Quarter 2
Allan Leighton, Chairman said: "The Group has continued to make significant progress in what is our seasonally weakest Quarter. We expect to see sustained improvements throughout our business as we move forward during the remainder of the financial year. The acquisition pipeline remains strong and we anticipate further activity during the coming months."
Brent Hoberman, Chief Executive, added: "This first Quarter has again demonstrated the robustness of our model with strong organic TTV growth supplemented by acquisitions in a key product category whilst retaining industry leading customer acquisition costs. The acquisitions have substantially strengthened our hotels offering which in turn is driving a sustainable trend in gross margins. Technology continues to remain a focus for our Group in order to retain our competitive leadership and provide an ever improving experience for our customers and partners."