Travelport’s second quarter financial results took a hit from the impact of “extraneous global events” earlier in the year leading to a 20% drop in operating profit to $66 million.
‘Global events’ hit Travelport’s half-year performance
Travelport’s second quarter financial results took a hit from the impact of “extraneous global events” earlier in the year leading to a 20% drop in operating profit to $66 million.
The Galileo and Wordspan parent saw EBITDA (earnings before costs including tax, depreciation and ammortisation) also decline in the three months to June 30 by 10% to $123 million.
This led to a first-half operating profit down to $145 million from $154 million in the same period in 2010 although EBITDA was up by a marginal 1% to $258 million for the six months on almost identical net revenue of $1 billion.
The company used proceeds from the sale of Gullivers Travel Associates to Kuoni in May towards paying $665 million in debt, leaving it with net debt of $2.8 billion.
Transaction processing revenue in the first half remained flat year on year with an increase in Europe and Asia Pacific offset by declines in the Americas region, the Middle East and Africa.
President and chief executive Gordon Wilson described the hirst six months’ performance as being “in line with management expectations, which was achieved despite the impact of extraneous global events in the earlier part of the year”.
He added: “We continue to make significant progress on our business objectives and look forward confidently o the remainder of the year with the knowledge that we have further developments to unveil in the coming months.”
