UK, August 3, 2000 (PRIMEZONE) -- lastminute.com plc (LSE:LMC); (Nasdaq:LMIN), the provider of last minute solutions on the internet, today announces results for the nine months ended 30 June 2000, showing continued strong growth quarter on quarter.
Highlights for Q3
-- Total transaction value increased over 17 times on Q3 1999 and 34
percent to 9.6 million pounds over the quarter (Q2 2000: 7.2
million pounds)
-- Gross profit up over 23 times on Q3 1999 and 34 percent to 950k
pounds over the quarter (Q2 2000: 707k pounds)
-- Cash balance 117 million pounds at 30 June 2000
-- Strong growth in individual supplier relationships up 40
percent to 3,458 (Q2 2000: 2,466)
-- Registered subscribers across Europe grew 50 percent to 2.1
million, with non-UK operations accounting for 30 percent of total
-- Customer base up 65 percent to 107,993 (Q2 2000: 65,387)
-- Number of items sold grew by 21 percent to 90,500 (Q2 2000:74,541)
-- 47% of items sold in Q3 were non-travel related, up from 45
percent in Q2 2000
Commenting on the results Brent Hoberman, Chief Executive Officer of lastminute.com, said:
"This is another set of strong results placing lastminute.com ahead of plan on all key metrics - brand strength, product range and depth, subscriber base, customers, total transaction value and gross profit.
"Triggered by the expansion of our marketing and distribution deals, and the continued increase in the breadth and depth of products and services on offer, our customer base grew by 65 percent over the quarter and is 27 times higher than a year ago. Gross profit for the quarter is up 34 percent to 950,000 pounds, almost half our year to date total.
"As lastminute.com continues its rapid growth, operating costs are being stringently controlled, increasing substantially less rapidly than gross profit and progressively benefiting operating ratios.
"The fourth quarter has begun with July being significantly the strongest trading month we have experienced. This and our latest results demonstrate the rapid growth of lastminute.com and the benefits of constantly enhancing our offering to customers. From this base, our plans for continued expansion in the UK and abroad through the continual diversification of our product offering and distribution channels give us considerable confidence as we look ahead."
Nine months ended 30 June 2000
9 months ended 9 months ended Growth
30 Jun 2000 30 Jun 1999
Registered subscribers at
period end 2,078,395 188,710 1,001%
Customers since inception 107,993 4,070 2,553%
Cumulative items sold in the
period 204,724 9,297 2,089%
Number of suppliers at
period end 3,458 320 981%
Total transaction
value 21,002k pounds 844k pounds 2,388%
Gross profit 2,007k pounds 66k pounds 2,941%
Quarter Ended 30 June 2000 Quarter ended Quarter ended Growth
30 Jun 2000 31 Mar 2000
Registered subscribers 2,078,395 1,385,042 50%
Customers since inception 107,993 65,387 65%
Number of items sold in the quarter 90,500 74,541 21%
Number of suppliers at period end 3,458 2,466 40%
Total transaction value 9,585k pounds 7,162k pounds 34%
Gross profit 950k pounds 707k pounds 34%
Developments in the Quarter
Brand
-- lastminute.com has been ranked No.2 online travel site in Europe
(No.1 in the UK) for 4 consecutive months (MMXI, Feb-May 2000)
-- No.2 retail site in the UK, June 2000 (Nielsen/NetRatings survey -
May visits)
Product Range and Choice
-- lastminute.com has secured further deals with suppliers,
strengthening and deepening its relationships with them to provide
customers greater choice and, at the same time, increasing the
barriers to entry for others in establishing these partnerships
-- Entertainment inventory will be doubled through the agreement with
SFX, the world's largest producer, presenter and promoter of live
entertainment. lastminute.com's customers will have direct access
to tickets handled by SFX in the UK via an electronic link into
SFX's electronic management system
-- Addition of over 6,400 hotels to the worldwide hotel inventory
through deals with Utell, the world's leading provider of
distribution systems for the hospitality industry, and Gran
Caribe, Cuba's largest hotel group, means that lastminute.com now
covers all major holiday destinations in the world
-- Auctions have developed into a successful sales tool for all other
supply categories, e.g. sale of 52 BT Cellnet WAP phones within 2
hours over lunchtime
Distribution Channels
-- As part of its strategy to make lastminute.com available on a
variety of platforms, a series of important deals have been
concluded.
-- M-commerce platforms established in the UK, France and Germany
through deals with France Telecom, Deutsche Telekom and Carphone
Warehouse's WAP portal Mviva in addition to the existing deals
with Orange and BT Cellnet Available on digital interactive
television platforms in the UK via NTL/CWC and Telewest and in
France via TPS satellite service
-- Over 100 marketing distribution deals in Europe
-- Viral marketing campaign to accompany football's Euro 2000 on PDAs
-- Launch of commercial WAP booking service for end-to-end restaurant
bookings in the UK
-- Exclusive content provider to expedia.co.uk's new Auction and
Lastminute channels
-- Partnership with Travelstore.com, making lastminute.com's range of
leisure offers available to Travelstore.com's business travellers,
via PC, WAP and PDAs
-- lastminute.com's campaign went live on AOL in the UK, Germany and
France on both the shopping and travel channel, bringing AOL
Europe's subscribers access to the full range of lastminute.com
offers
-- Flutter.com - as the exclusive travel and entertainment partner,
lastminute.com will be permanently promoted above the fold on the
flutter.com homepage and will be the sole sponsor of a 'last
minute flutter'
Viva Espana - the first lastminute.com destination page, where all offers in Spain are pooled, went live and has proved highly successful with 223,530 hits in the quarter. lastminute.com Spain is expected to go live during Q4 2000.
Successful sponsorship of the weekly newsletter continued during the quarter, creating a new revenue stream. Sponsors included more than six leading e-commerce and internet companies in the UK and international sponsorship commenced in Germany.
Announcements Since 30 June 2000
-- Agreement to create Affiliate Programme with BeFree Inc., a leader
in performance online marketing - increasing the reach of
lastminute.com by enabling third parties to carry lastminute.com
branded advertising and earn from sales generated
-- Pan-European supplier agreement with Swissair, Crossair and Sabena
as part of the Qualiflyer Group, gives lastminute.com's customers
access to over 140 destinations
-- Technology partnership with E.piphany, NCorp and whereonearth.com
will allow lastminute.com to provide more tailored and targeted
services to its customers. The new technology platform is
functionally complete and continues to undergo load testing
-- Launch of m-commerce initiative with Vodafone - lastminute.com's
unique WAP service will be available across multiple channels of
the vodafone.net WAP service in a specially tailored service for
Vodafone users allowing simple navigation to a comprehensive range
of travel, entertainment and restaurant booking services
-- Access to US customers through agreement with OpenTable.com,
whereby the two companies will work together to expand
lastminute.com's restaurant offers into the US and, at the same
time, make OpenTable.com's real-time restaurant reservation
network available in Europe
Current Trading and Outlook Since 30 June 2000, we have continued to experience strong growth with July displaying the strongest trading month in the group's history.
We expect the growth in our registered subscriber base to continue as we expand internationally and execute our business plan. We will continue to concentrate on the provision of last minute solutions over the internet via a variety of platforms -- personal computers, mobile telephones, interactive television and personal digital assistants. We intend to capitalize on our new technology platform and improve our current offering by providing customers with more tailored and targeted services hence enhancing the overall customer experience.
Notes to Editors Preliminary results and results for the year ended 30 September 2000 are expected to be issued in November 2000.
About lastminute.com The lastminute.com web site (www.lastminute.com) was launched in the UK in October 1998.
Based on the idea of matching supply and demand at the last minute via the Internet, lastminute.com works with a range of suppliers in the travel, entertainment, restaurant and gift industries and is dedicated to bringing its customers attractive products and services. lastminute.com aims to provide solutions and inspiration to its customers at short notice.
Following the success of the UK site, localized versions of the web site have since been launched in France, Germany and Sweden in September, October and December 1999 respectively. Joint venture agreements were signed for operations in Australia and South Africa in March and May 2000 respectively.
At 30 June 2000, lastminute.com had approximately 2.1 million registered subscribers and relationships with over 3,400 key suppliers, including international scheduled airlines, hotels, package tour operators, theatre, sports and entertainment promoters, restaurants, specialty service providers and gift suppliers, both in the UK and internationally. In the quarter ended 30 June 2000, 47 percent of goods sold were non-travel related. Supplier relationships include British Airways, British Midland, Virgin Atlantic Airways, Bass Hotels and Resorts, Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, English National Ballet, The Royal Albert Hall, Conran Restaurants, One for the Road and SFX.
The full report with figures can be viewed on the following link. http://reports.huginonline.com/786421.pdf