AMADEUS IT Holding, parent company of Amadeus Group, expanded its global market share of travel agency air bookings by 1.0 percentage point during the first half of 2012, and posted a 26.1 per cent jump in adjusted profit to €332.5 million (US$411.5 million).
The growth in profit was due primarily to substantial reduction in interest expense, and was backed by a 8.6 per cent growth in revenue to €1.51 billion, and a 6.1 per cent rise in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) to €606.9 million.
Amadeus’ buoyant financial results were the result of significant year-on-year growth from both its Distribution and IT Solutions businesses.
Revenue generated by Distribution increased by 7.2 per cent to €1.16 billion, while the number of total bookings, including both air travel agency and non-air bookings, improved by 4.2 per cent to 252.2 million. In IT Solutions, business revenue increased by 13.6 per cent to €351.4 million, while the Passengers Boarded figure was lifted by 27.0 per cent to 259 million.
The financial performance for the first half was also driven by strong year-on-year results during both quarters. During the second quarter, adjusted profit increased by 30.3 per cent to €164.6 million, total revenues were up by 8.8 per cent to €744.7 million, and EBITDA rose by 6.8 per cent to €299.7 million.
The strong cash flow generation in the period drove consolidated net financial debt down to €1.65 billion as of June 30, 2012. This represented 1.53x the last twelve months’ EBITDA and was down by €197.1 million versus December 31, 2011.
