Increasing all around them as well :)Wednesday, 7 February 2007...

Increasing all around them as well :)


Wednesday, 7 February 2007 9:06:28 AM
Online Bookings Surge For Distribution Giants
STRONG online booking growth is a feature of results reported by distribution giants Amadeus and Cendant TDS.

Amadeus has reported that online bookings “from all providers grew” by 34.1% during 2005 and now accounts for 12% of total bookings, which in turn increased 4% to 473 million.

The company claimed global GDS leadership with 29.24% market share at the end of the year, up 0.44% year-on-year.

“Total revenue grew by 17.6% to EUR 2,418.3m, with an increasing proportion coming from IT services,” the company said.

Meanwhile, Cendant TDS reported that its online travel business bookings grew by almost 30% in the three months to March 31 - a period when revenue was up but profits were down.

Cendant’s online properties include Orbitz, ebookers.com, Octopus Travel, Rates To Go and Hotel Club.

“On an organic basis, our online travel businesses grew worldwide gross bookings by 27% and achieved higher margins,” Cendant said in a results statement.

“In addition, revenue from GDS (Galileo) and supplier services increased 5%, driven principally by a 7% increase in worldwide air booking fees, partially offset by decreased subscriber fee income.”

Despite overall revenue increasing 17%, Cendant TDS profit fell by 19% during the quarter to $US105 million.

The company said relatively new acquisitions Gullivers and ebookers “contributed a total of US$66 million to revenue but reduced Earnings Before Interest Tax Depreciation and Amortisation (EBITDA) by US$13 million.

“In addition, EBITA was negatively impacted by higher expenses at Galileo, including infrastructure improvements to support growth, higher technology costs in our online businesses and US$7 million of separation costs.”

Ends.