Online retailer Lastminute.com yesterday reported its second successive quarterly loss as the war in Iraq and the SARS virus impacted on the travel industry.
Although higher than envisaged, the deficit of £4.2 million (before goodwill, exceptional items and taxation) represented an improvement on the same period last year when losses totalled £5.3 million.
Total transaction value for the quarter grew by 126.4% year on year to £92.2 million and Lastminute said that it had achieved record forward bookings of £56 million at the end of March.
Allan Leighton, the company’s chairman, commented: “Our model demonstrated its resilience in the last quarter, which was tough for the travel industry. Quarter three has started well with a record order bank for Easter departures.”
Lastminute has also completed the takeover of car rental firm Holiday Autos and is counting on a post-war sales boom to help it return to profit in the current quarter.
Shares stood at 116.5p by the close of trading today.
