Lastminute.com halves second-quarter losses

Online booking company Lastminute.com has halved its quarterly losses and says it is set to benefit from a major acquisition.

Online booking company Lastminute.com has halved its quarterly losses and says it is set to benefit from a major acquisition.

It announced it was buying Travelselect.com last month - tripling its flights volume and providing online access to Eurostar.

Lastminute's second quarter pre-tax loss before one off costs was £5.3 million sterling. This compares with a loss of £10.7 million in the same period last year.

Lastminute had 5.02 million registered subscribers at the end of March, up from 3.14 million a year earlier.

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Chairman Mr Allan Leighton said: "The early delivery of operational profitability in the UK and France ensures that Lastminute.com is well placed to meet expectations for the overall group in the near term.

"We are also in a position to build upon our recent major UK acquisition and lead the consolidation of the online travel sector in Europe."

Chief executive Mr Brent Hoberman said: "The group continues to demonstrate that Lastminute.com's business model is working increasingly well, especially in the UK, our most developed market.

PA