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Amadeus IT Holding, S.A., parent company of the Amadeus Group, a leading transaction processor and provider of advanced technology solutions for the global travel and tourism industry, has announced year-on-year financial and operating results for the first half of 2011 (six months ended June 30, 2011).
Adjusted profit for the first half increased 12.2% to reach €263.7 million. This was backed by a growth in revenue from continuing operations of 3.9% to €1,389.0 million and an improvement in EBITDA of 6.0% to €572.1 million. Excluding the impact of the sales of equity stakes in Vacation.com and Hospitality Group during 2010, and the impact of a change in treatment of certain bookings within IT Solutions, revenue grew by 5.8%3.
During the second quarter of the year Amadeus successfully refinanced its debt with a new €2.7 billion senior unsecured financing. Amadeus’ consolidated net financial debt on June 30, 2011 was €1,895.8 million (based on covenants’ definition), representing 1.82x last twelve months’ EBITDA. With the benefit of the net proceeds of the sale of Opodo, this figure was down by €675.5 million or 26.3% vs. December 2010.
Both the Distribution and IT Solutions businesses contributed to the company’s performance during the first half. Revenue in the Distribution area increased by 4.1% (4.9% excluding the impact of the sale of Vacation.com), rising to €1,079.6 million. Total bookings increased by 4.3%, up from 232.1 million to 242.0 million. Amadeus also increased its global market share[7] of travel agency air bookings by 0.8 percentage points, maintaining its leadership position with 37.2% of the global market share of travel agency air bookings during the first half of 2011.
The IT Solutions business continued its growth by increasing revenue 3.2% during the first half (7.2% excluding the impact of the sale of Hospitality Group and the change in treatment of certain bookings[8]) to €309.4 million. Passengers Boarded (PB)[9] increased by 32.5% in the same period, rising from 153.9 million to 203.9 million. Five contracts with new airlines for the Amadeus Altea Suite were signed and the scope of an existing contract with airberlin was increased.
The financial performance during the first half of 2011 is backed by strong year-on-year results both in the first and the second quarters of the year: Amadeus’ adjusted profit increased by 13.4% in the second quarter, up from €111.4 million to €126.3 million, total revenues in the second quarter were up by 5.0% (6.7% excluding the impact of the sale of Vacation.com and Hospitality Group) from €651.9 million to €684.7 million, and EBITDA rose in the second quarter by 5.2% from €266.8 million to €280.6 million.
Luis Maroto, President & CEO of Amadeus, said: “This has been a positive and active first half of the year. At an operational level, both our Distribution and IT Solutions businesses continued to grow and in particular had significant successes in the Asia-Pacific region, adding further visibility to our future growth. In Distribution, our global market share of air travel agency bookings increased by 0.8 percentage points and an important partnership was signed with TOPAS, a subsidiary of Korean Air, to launch a reservation system using Amadeus technology which will handle more than 50% of all travel agency bookings in Korea. In IT Solutions, the number of Passengers Boarded increased by 32.5% and we signed further Amadeus Altea Suite contracts with leading global airlines such as All Nippon Airways (ANA) for its international flights, Korean Air and Thai Airlines. We are confident that our ongoing investment in developing the best technology will continue to produce long-term results and now expect our annual Passengers Boarded (PB) to be more than 700 million by 2014.”
“This period also includes many non-operating key developments, such as the agreement to refinance our debt through a new senior unsecured credit facility, the assignment of an investment grade rating by both Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s, and the completion of the sale of Opodo following the approval of the European Commission.”
“From a financial perspective, the results are also encouraging: year-on-year EBITDA grew by 6.0% to €572.1 million, adjusted profit rose by 12.2% to €263.7 million, and net debt decreased by €675.5 million to represent now only 1.82x last twelve months’ EBITDA. We look forward to the second half of the year with confidence.”
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales. She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.
