Travel booking company eDreams has said that its net loss in the October-December period narrowed to €10.1 million as it added more subscribers and the number of bookings continued to rise.
Details
After the end of COVID-19 restrictions, the tourism sector is rebounding, with pent-up demand for travel helping European airlines and hotel chains recover from the pandemic slump.
"Our bookings remain strong and continue above pre-pandemic levels, all in a market that is progressively returning to its normal seasonality patterns," chief executive Dana Dunne said in a statement.
eDreams said it does not expect the uncertain macroeconomic outlook to deter travel.
Metrics such as the number of days spent on holiday and how early people book in advance are still 20% to 25% below pre-COVID levels, chief financial officer David Elizaga told Reuters.
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose 65% to €23 million in the third quarter.
eDreams said the subscription programme was the main driver of profitability. It charges an annual flat fee of about €55 for access to lower fares when booking on its websites.
The company said it had 4.2 million paying subscribers in February and was on track to meet its targets of 180 million euros in core earnings and 7.25 million subscribers by 2025.
"For July and August, when people were queuing for hours at airports because of cancellations and staff shortages, for our prime customers our average answer time was 60 seconds," Dunne said, pointing to VIP customer support as the programme's main strength.
Subscriber numbers in the third quarter jumped 81% year-on-year to 3.9 million, even though it is seasonally the quietest period.
Shares
Shares in eDreams have gained around 50% year-to-date.
Read More: eDreams Says Bookings Well Above Pre-Pandemic Level, Subscriptions Soar
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