Lastminute.com Group claims a "strong upswing" in financial performance follows a steady to return to travel in Europe, particularly with support for its packaging product.
The provider of online travel agency and metasearch brands, including Latminute.com, Rumbo, BravoFly and JetCost, says its total revenues across the portfolio hit €55 million in the third quarter of 2021, up by 60% year-over-year.
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Adjusted EBITDA came in at €13 million (up 289%) over the same period, giving it €48 million in net cash on the balance sheet.
The company says it plans to boost its headcount over the next few months, especially within the IT department.
The sale of package trips over the July to September period has pushed the product to become a signficant contributor to its group margin metrics, coming in at 70% of the total.
CEO Andrea Bertoli says he expects a "return to normality" for leisure travel demand during the course of 2022.
Fabio Cannavale, CEO of Lastminute Holdings, adds: "The last 18 months have been the most difficult for the entire travel industry and the Group too. I’m proud of what our people did to secure the business and create the most favourable conditions to restart the business profitably.
"We always had a cash surplus from the time of the IPO. It was not taken for granted to keep it even during the peak of the crisis. Now that the business is definitively recovering and we will start benefiting from our structural advanced cash-in model, we’ll have further growing resources to invest in innovation."