HOTELMARKETING.COM

Ebookers sales jump, taps Pegasus

May 10, 2004 |

Ebookers gross sales in the first quarter rose 47 percent. The company enhances its agreement with Pegasus for merchant hotel rate distribution.

Online travel agency Ebookers says its gross sales in the first quarter rose 47 percent and it is increasingly confident for the year ahead, with current trading in line with expectations.

Like-for-like online passenger growth in April, the start of the company’s weakest trading quarter, was up 59 percent from April last year.

The mid- and long-haul travel specialist said on Monday it would cut 270 jobs in Europe and India as more sales moved online and processes were automated. The cost-cutting exercise would save the company around 2.5 million pounds in 2004.

“Our successful strategy of taking offline companies and converting them to the Internet, is enabling us to significantly improve productivity and take out costs,” Chairman and Chief Executive Dinesh Dhamija said in a statement.

Ebookers EBR.L posted a pre-tax profit of 1.3 million pounds in the first quarter, up from a pre-tax loss of 4.9 million in the same period a year ago. Gross sales rose to 160 million pounds.

Ebookers said the profit margin in its main flights business, which is 80 percent focused on long- and mid-haul destinations such as Australia, South Africa and Canada, remained good at 9.2 percent.

Margins on the highly competitive short-haul market fell to as little as one percent in many cases.

“With strong online growth, increasing high-margin non-air sales, and the cost reductions detailed today, our business model is performing well and we have a continued positive outlook for 2004,” Dhamija said.

The proportion of non-air sales rose to 40 percent from 29 percent a year ago.

Ebookers said it had appointed Ranjan Singh, formerly a director at the world’s largest online travel agency Expedia, as its head of hotels.

In addition, the company announced, that it has enhanced its agreement with Pegasus effective from May 2004. The new agreement will facilitate real time availability-checking of ebookers’ own directly negotiated merchant hotel rates and will also enhance online presentation and user experience.

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