Technology firm Amadeus has increased its pre-tax profits by 7.9 per cent to €721.3 million for 2012.
The Spanish-based company was helped by a 7.5 per cent rise in revenue to €2.91 billion last year compared to €2.76 billion in 2011.
Despite the rise in total revenue, Amadeus’s operating profit was flat at €831 million in 2012 due to increased costs and expenses. The increase in pre-tax profit was largely down to a €104 million reduction in its interest payments as the company reduced its net debt to €1.5 billion.
Amadeus CEO Luis Maroto said: “Despite another year of global macro-economic challenges, Amadeus’ proven business model and geographically diverse base again allowed us to maintain our growth record and increase our year-on-year revenues.
“2012 has been an outstanding year all round, with a strong financial performance, as well as landmark customer wins such as the Southwest and Expedia contracts in North America.”
Amadeus increased sales in both its distribution and IT businesses during 2012. Distribution revenue rose by 5.8 per cent to €2.2 billion with air travel bookings increasing by 3.5 per cent to €416.5 million while sales in IT Solutions also went up 13 per cent to €709 million.
Amadeus said it had grown its market share of flight bookings through agents by 0.9 percentage points to 38.6 per cent to maintain its position as the biggest GDS in the world.
Maroto said: “In 2013 we are focusing on further consolidating our leading position by evolving our competitive offering, whilst also selectively investing in growth areas such as IT solutions for airports, hotels and rail providers.
“We are cautiously optimistic about 2013 and expect revenue and contribution to continue to grow across both businesses, based upon our experience and taking into account the resiliency of our business model.”