Avis Europe reports rise in corporate business
Avis Europe reported a 4% rise in corporate business in its preliminary results for 2004. The car rental company whose brands include Avis and Budget reported a pre-tax profit of €54.2m (compared with €59.4m in 2003) on a turnover of €1,176.9m (2003: €1,169m).
The company said corporate accounted for 22% of its business.
Five line up to buy Malev
Five companies have expressed an interest in buying the troubled Hungarian national carrier Malev. The state privatisation agency APV said it had received three bids and two letters of intent when applications closed on Monday. A decision is expected to be made by the end of March.
Lufthansa posts preliminary profit
Lufthansa reported a net profit of €400m in its preliminary results for 2004 compared with a loss of €984m for the year before. The airline's full results will be published on March 23.
Iberia enjoys 50% profit leap
Spanish airline Iberia saw its consolidated profits after tax leap by more than 50% to €220m for 2004, the second biggest in its history. The carrier also recorded its highest ever load factor of 75.2%.
The airline said it had reduced its operating costs by 5% over the year which had helped to offset the sharp rise in fuel prices.
Online bookings rise for Sol Melia
Spanish hotel group Sol Melia had a 10% increase in online bookings to 25% and said that 88% of these now came through its own website. The group reported a pre-tax profit of €68.4m for 2004, up 33.9% on 2003 while revenue per available room rose 0.5% to €44.8.
Budget hotels drive Whitbread sales increase
Whitbread's budget hotel brand Premier Travel Inn helped drive an increase of `7.6% in sales for the first 50 weeks of the financial year, the group said.
Sales at the brand - the UK's biggest with 457 properties - were up 6.7%, compared with 3.6% in the previous financial year.