British online retailer Lastminute.com swung to a core profit in the third quarter of its financial year and said today summer bookings for the key fourth quarter had started strongly.
Lastminute.com, a website that helps busy people book holidays and buy gifts at short notice, reported earnings in the three months to the end of June of £4.1 million before exceptional items.
It made a loss of £1.9 million a year earlier and a loss of £1.7 million pounds in its second quarter to end-March. Shares in both lastminute.com and rival Ebookers rose last month after smaller rival Online Travel Corporation reported robust sales growth and said sector prospects looked rosy.
Ebookers said yesterday it had seen some slippage in demand for mid and long-haul travel - its key market - due to the knock-on effects of the Iraq war and the SARS virus on consumer demand, but expected a strong winter season.