LONDON, Feb. 6, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- lastminute.com (Nasdaq:LMIN) today announces Quarter 1 2003 results and the continued enhancement of its Executive Management Team.
-- Customer conversion rate improved to 25.6% from 16.1% year-on-year
-- Total transaction value for the Quarter grew by 174.4%
year-on-year to 87.1m pounds (Q1 2002: 31.7m pounds)
-- Gross profit for the Quarter up 153.8% year-on-year to
11.3m pounds(Q1 2002: 4.5m pounds)
-- Customer acquisition costs fall by 1.70 pounds to 9.20 pounds per
customer for Quarter 1 compared with the same period last year
-- Group EBITDA loss of 1.6m pounds for the Quarter as expected, a
reduction of 69.1% compared with the Quarter 1 2002 EBITDA loss
of 5.1m pounds
-- Loss (before goodwill amortisation and taxation) down 46.5%
year-on-year to 3.8m pounds (Q1 2002: loss 7.2m pounds)
-- Operating cash outflow (before exceptional items) of 7.4m pounds
for the Quarter, (Q1 2002: 3.8m pounds), reflecting the increased
level of business following acquisitions, seasonal working capital
movements and additional capital expenditure
-- Cash balance remains strong at 41.9m pounds
(Q1 2002: 36.5m pounds)
-- Successful launch of "Breakbuilder," the lastminute.com dynamic
packaging product
Allan Leighton, Chairman said: "lastminute.com continues to make progress. Despite the uncertain political and economic environment that Europe is facing, our business model allows us to anticipate 2003 being another year of sustained and improving performance."
Brent Hoberman, Chief Executive, added: "We have achieved another quarter of significant progress. This strong performance reflects our widened geographical spread and increased depth of offering, as evidenced by the successful launch of our dynamic packaging product, Breakbuilder, in November 2002."
To download the full report, please click the following link: http://reports.huginonline.com/890648/113015.pdf
Notes to Editors:
About lastminute.com
lastminute.com operates directly in eight European countries and participates in four international joint ventures, providing inspirations and solutions for customers at the last minute. At December 31, 2002 lastminute.com had over 6.8 million subscribers to its weekly newsletter and had established over 14,700 supplier relationships. lastminute.com remains the leading independent travel and leisure site across six countries.
The business is based on the idea of matching supply and demand. lastminute.com offers consumers opportunities to acquire airline tickets, hotel rooms, package holidays, entertainment tickets, restaurant reservations and food delivery, speciality services, gifts and auctions in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, the Netherlands, Spain, Belgium, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Japan.