Travelport reports rise in profits

But revenue drops over year

Travelport reported a pre-tax profit of $716m for 2008, a 3% increase on its figure for 2007.

But the travel group which owns two major GDSs, Galileo and Worldspan, said its adjusted net revenue for the year had declined by 3% to $2,530bn compared to the previous year.

For the fourth quarter of 2008,Travelport said pre-tax earnings of $149m were a 10% increase on the same period in 2007.  

But the company said that again revenue for the three months of $525m was 10% lower than for the same period in 2007.

For its GDS division, Travelport said that for the full year pre-tax earnings fell by 1% from $140m in 2007 to $139m in 2008.

Revenue also fell for the year by 8% from $546m to $501m.

For the last quarter of 2008, it said that pre-tax earnings decreased by 3% from $697m in 2007 to $679m last year while revenue dropped by 5% from $2,286m to $2,174m.

The company said it had saved $133m out of a targeted $150m in synergies during 2008 from the integration of Worldspan.

It had made savings of $260m during the year from the "re-engineering" of Travelport's business and synergies from Worldspan.

Jeff Clarke, Travelport's ceo and president, said:  "I'm pleased Travelport was able to grow profitability in the fourth quarter and full year 2008 given the significant decline in industry demand and the unprecedented macroeconomic environment. 

"This was made possible by the excellent execution during these challenging times.

"The environment for travel continued to weaken into the fourth quarter as the expected airline capacity reductions materialized and the demand for those seats continued to be impacted by the global recession. 

"GDS segments declined 15% year-over-year during the quarter and 11% for the year. 

Mike Rescoe, Travelport's cfo, said: "Over two years ago, we started reducing Travelport's cost structure through our re-engineering cost savings and Worldspan synergies programmes.

"These actions have better positioned the company to withstand the significant decline in travel demand that has continued to deteriorate throughout the year. "

www.travelport.com