Lastminute reaches profitability in the UK and France
Lastminute has narrowed its losses for the second quarter of the year and reached operational profitability in the UK and France.
The company said overall losses for the three months to late March narrowed to £5.3m, down by just more than half (50.4%) compared to the same period last year and by 26.2% quarter on quarter.
Total transaction value for the quarter grew by 46.6% year on year and 28.4% quarter on quarter to £40.8 million. The online retailer also announced that it has improved its customer conversion rate to 18.3%, up from 16.1% in the previous quarter.
Lastminute also hinted at further acquisitions following last month’s purchase of Travelselect.com. Chairman Allan Leighton said: “The early delivery of operational profitability in the UK and France ensures that lastminute.com is well placed to meet expectations for the overall Group in the near term. We are also in a position to build upon our recent major UK acquisition and lead the consolidation of the online travel sector in Europe.”
Chief Executive Brent Hoberman added: “The Group continues to demonstrate that lastminute.com’s business model is working increasingly well, especially in the UK, our most developed market. The delivery of dynamic packaging in the Autumn will provide much greater flexibility and choice to our customers as well as adding to the overall Group margins.”
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