BREAKING NEWS: Summer overcapacity will boost late bookings, Lastminute claims
Summer over capacity will boost demand for late travel, Lastminute.com has predicted.
Chairman Allan Leighton, revealing reduced losses for the three months ending March 31, said: “The indications are that there will be excess capacity in the market as we move towards the key summer quarter and that the demand for late travel will remain strong.
“For example, trading for the month of April has been generally weak across the majority of the ravel industry as customer continue the trend towards later booking.”
Lastminute.com halved year on year quarterly losses to £1.5 million against £3.1 million.
The result for the three months ending March 31 was an improvement in EBITDA of 51.4%. The half year loss is down to £2.6 million from £4.7 million.
The company saw gross profits more than double to £31 million in the three months ending March 31.
The result was based on a 94% year-on-year rise in total transaction value to almost £179 million against £92 million.
Lastminute saw transaction values from dynamic packaging show “significant growth” to £13.5 million against £5.3 million in the same period last year.
Chief executive Brent Hoberman said the company had made “significant progress” in its second quarter.
“Strong organic like-for-like growth of 36.2% has been supplemented by key acquisitions in strong gross margin product categories,” he said. “Industry trends, particularly the offline to online share shift seen in this quarter, continue to move in our favour. Overall we remain confident of delivering a further year of substantially improved financial metrics.”
Lastminute acquired First Option for £12 million and Gemstone Travel for £1.5 million during the quarter. It completed the acquisition of Online Travel Corporation for £55 million last month.
Report by Phil Davies
Phil Davies
Vegas’s Billion-Dollar Secrets – What They Don’t Want Tourists to Know
Visit Florida’s New CEO Bryan Griffin Shares His Vision for State Tourism with Graham
Chicago’s Tourism Renaissance: Graham Interviews Kristin Reynolds of Choose Chicago
Graham Talks with Cassandra McCauley of MMGY NextFactor About the Latest Industry Research
Destination International’s Andreas Weissenborn: Research, Advocacy, and Destination Impact
Graham and Don Welsh Discuss the Success of Destinations International’s Annual Conference
Graham and CEO Andre Kiwitz on Ventura Travel’s UK Move and Recruitment for the Role
Brett Laiken and Graham Discuss Florida’s Tourism Momentum and Global Appeal
Graham and Elliot Ferguson on Positioning DC as a Cultural and Inclusive Global Destination
Graham Talks to Fraser Last About His England-to-Ireland Trek for Mental Health Awareness
Kathy Nelson Tells Graham About the Honour of Hosting the World Cup and Kansas City’s Future
Graham McKenzie on Sir Richie Richardson’s Dual Passion for Golf and His Homeland, Antigua
ADS PRO 
TAP Air Portugal to operate 29 flights due to strike on December 11
Qatar Airways offers flexible payment options for European travellers
Airlines suspend Madagascar services following unrest and army revolt
Air Mauritius reduces frequencies to Europe and Asia for the holiday season
Major rail disruptions around and in Berlin until early 2026