Low volumes hit earnings
Travelport Limited today (August 6) reported a 16% year-on-year drop in net revenue in the second quarter from $703m to $592m.
The company, which owns Travelport GDS and Orbitz, an online business travel agency, also saw pre-tax earnings fall by 12% in the three months to July 31.
"Low travel volumes continue to weigh negatively upon our earnings as a result of the global recessionary environment," Jeff Clarke, Travelport's ceo and president, said.
"Despite the difficult environment, Travelport continues to aggressively invest in the next generation of our products and expansion into new markets."
Travelport and its parent companies Travelport Holdings Limited and Travelport Worldwide recently repurchased large amounts of debt at a discounted level.
Mr Clarke said the combined move by Travelport and its owners had resulted in a debt reduction of more than $1bn.
Travelport said it had achieved more than $165m in savings from the restructure of its Worldspan global distribution service (GDS) operation.
Worldspan and Travelport's other GDS platform, Galileo, generated $515m in the second quarter down from $592m year-on-year.
Travelport announced a number of repayments including $263m of debt under a revolving credit facility.
"Despite the tight credit environment, we believe our access to the capital markets remains strong as evidenced by our ability to borrow an additional $150m in term loans," Mike Rescoe, Travelport's cfo, said.
Mr Clarke added: "Travelport's financial condition remains strong, which enables us to continue to better position and invest in the company for the future."
www.travelport.com