Amadeus brought in €1.23 billion in revenue during
the first quarter of 2018 – up 3.1% over the same period a year earlier.
EBITDA grew even more, up 7.4% to €539
million.
In a call with analysts, Amadeus president and CEO Luis
Maroto says financial growth was distorted by the negative impact of depreciation of
the American dollar.
Gains in distribution and IT solutions drove much of
the growth in the first quarter.
In the distribution segment, travel agency air bookings
reached 160 million, an increase of 3.7% year-over-year.
The company renewed or signed distribution agreements with nine carriers in the quarter.
The fastest growing regions were Asia Pacific, North America and Central, Eastern and Southern Europe. Amadeus’ bookings in Western Europe and Middle East and Africa slowed in the first quarter.
The company says Western European bookings were impacted by the loss of share at some European mid-size online travel agencies due to increased competitive activity.
Amadeus’ merchandising solutions grew
to 148 customers during the first quarter. Five airlines signing up for Amadeus
Airline Ancillary Services for the indirect channel, and six carriers
contracted Amadeus Fare Families, including Virgin Atlantic.
For its IT solution business, revenue grew 5.1% in the
first three months of 2018.
Passengers boarded increased 22.7% to 416.9 million
from a mix of 7.7% organic growth and 2017 migrations that included Southwest
Airlines, Japan Airlines, Malaysia Airlines and several others.
The company says 65.3% of passengers boarded were generated
outside of Europe in the first quarter.
Amadeus now has 280 customers for its airport IT
solutions and more than 1,000 for contracted payment services.
Acquisition activity and other investments
Investments in research and development increased
10.6% in the first quarter to €193 million, with most of that money being spent
on product portfolio expansion and evolution, customer implementations and
cross-area technological projects.
In hospitality IT, the company is continuing to
roll-out its Guest Reservation System with IHG. More than 1,000 hotels are now
on board and Maroto says he expects that number to be 6,000 by late-2018 or
early-2019.
Looking ahead, Maroto says: “We have got a strong
start to the year. And we are positive for our outlook for 2018. Although it is
too early to make changes, but we are confident that if things continue as we
have seen for the first quarter, we will be able to beat our estimates."
When asked by financial analysts about whether they are looking to acquire
other companies in the near future, Maroto says: "We are always looking for
opportunities. It is clear that what we have – as you know we are developing on
the CRS we believe is quite unique and special.
"However, when we do M&A it’s
not just about technology, it could be about acquisition of customers, it may
be about the teams we are having, and there may be opportunities in the market that
are not obvious and are not easy but of course we are continuously looking for M&A opportunities
that can really give us a better competitive position or a better market
presence."