In the first half of 2016, Sabre saw revenues across the group increase by 20.3% to $1.704 billion, compared to the first half of 2015.
That level of growth represents a big jump from the approximate 7% average revenue growth throughout the year of 2014.
The company expects full year 2016 revenue growth to be close to 14.5%, year-over-year.
For the first half of the year, Sabre’s adjusted EBITDA stands at $558.9 million, up by 18.6%, year-on-year.
In particular, revenue on the Sabre Travel Network (the global distribution system, or GDS) has risen by 22% to $1.22 billion in the first half of the year, with air bookings and non-air bookings up over the prior year by 28.9% and 7.7% respectively.
Growth was driven by its Asia-Pacific acquisition of Abacus, whose operational integration has been mostly completed.
But there were also bookings growth across all regions. EBITA margins for this division may slightly surpass 40% for the year, the company advised on an investor call today.
During the first half of the year, Travel Network claims a gain of almost a full point of market share in the GDS market, to 37.1% share versus its rivals Amadeus and Travelport.
The company says it has won renewals and new agency business without having to pay more in incentives or commissions, executives told investors on a conference call. As for airline GDS fees, the company has seen moderate price increases at about the rate of inflation.
IT services (Airline and Hospitality Solutions) revenue has jumped by 16.4% to $490.5 million, year-on-year in the first half of the year. The company expects more growth in its solutions business in the second half of the year, with 17% growth on average for the year as a whole, versus 2015.
Helping to boost the rise in IT revenue was a huge increase in airline passengers boarded through the SabreSonic reservation solution, due partly to new implementations and 6% organic passengers boarded growth in its customer base.
On the financial front, the company has brought its net debt to LTM adjusted EBITDA down from 5.1x to 3.1x, thanks to earnings growth growing quickly while debt is currently $3.22 billion.
No information about the ongoing CEO transition was provided.