September 11 hurts Sabre Q4 results

Sabre’s fourth quarter 2001 results, unveiled yesterday, were down on the same three month period in the previous year due to the impact of the September 11 terrorist attacks.

The company said it had provided approximately $12 million in relief efforts to its airline and travel agency customers following the attacks. In addition Sabre was also hit by a significant downturn in bookings following September 11.

Total worldwide travel bookings processed through the Sabre global distribution system, which includes direct bookings and joint venture bookings for which Sabre or its distribution partners earn a booking fee, were 83 million for the fourth quarter 2001, down 19.4% from the same period last year.

Bookings within the US declined 23.5% for the quarter, while international bookings declined by 13.8%. For the 12 month period ended December 31 2001, bookings were 431 million, a 7.7% decrease from 2000.

In total revenues from the travel marketing and distribution business were $320 million for the fourth quarter of 2001, down 12.9% from the same period in 2002.

Sabre chairman and chief executive William Hannigan said: “We continue to see global booking trends improving. In the fourth quarter, we took actions to better align our cost structure with the realities of a gradually recovering industry.”

He added: “Throughout 2001, Sabre took steps to increase focus on our travel marketing and distribution businesses. We made several key moves, such as divesting our airline IT infrastructure outsourcing business to EDS, fully integrating GetThere, restructuring our Airline Solutions business, and investing in online travel. Before September 11, we were on track to meet full year financial guidance of 20% earnings growth and revenue growth in the high teens.”

In contrast at Travelocity, which is majority owned by Sabre, revenues were $68 million for the three month period up 4% on the same three months in 2000. However overall bookings volumes fell in the period from $696million in the fourth quarter of 2000 to $630 million for the fourth quarter of 2001, compared to $696 million in the year-ago quarter.

After restructuring charges – including the $28.2 million associated with axing 470 staff – Sabre posted a net loss for the quarter of $70 million, compared to a net loss of $29 million for the same quarter in 2000.