Amadeus recorded a profit of 1,123.9 million euros in 2023, which is 59.8% more than the 703.1 million euros recorded in the previous year, as reported this Wednesday by the technological provider of tourist services to the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV).
The recovery of global air traffic has led the company to record an increase in revenue of 21.3% to reach 5,541 million euros.
The gross operating result (Ebitda) reached 2,063.2 million euros, which represents an increase of 29.8% compared to the 1,589.2 million euros recorded a year earlier.
Reservations made by the technology company rose 13.6%, to 450.2 million, while passengers boarded rose 26.8%, to a total of 1,952.3 million.
In 2023, revenue from air distribution increased by 23.6%, to 2,655.1 million euros, those registered in the technological solutions area increased by 21.6%, to 1,903.5 million euros, while Obtained in the hotel area and the payments business increased by 14.2%, to 882.6 million euros.
Free cash flow increased by 42.7%, to 1,148.6 million euros. As of December 31, 2023, the net financial debt of the technology company stood at 2,140.6 million euros (1 times the Ebitda of the last twelve months).
"As we advance our strategy, we are optimistic about our growth prospects in 2024 and beyond," said the company's CEO, Luis Maroto.
On December 15 of last year, Amadeus announced the proposal of the board of directors to set the distribution percentage of 2023 profits at 50%. In addition, it agreed to distribute an interim dividend against 2023 profits of 0 .44 full euros per share, which was paid on January 18, 2024, for a total amount of 193.4 million euros.
In its presentation of results to the CNMV, the company has announced that in June of this year 2024, the board of directors will submit to the approval of the ordinary general meeting of shareholders a total full dividend of 1.24 euros per share, which represents 50% of the reported profit. This establishes the distribution of a total of 558.6 million euros as a dividend charged to the 2023 financial year.
"In 2023, Amadeus experienced strong growth, increased its profitability and recorded high cash flow generation. This has allowed us not only to recover ordinary shareholder remuneration, but also to announce share buyback programs that, in total, will add up to more than 1 billion euros in 2023," said Amadeus CEO Luis Maroto.
BUSINESS EVOLUTION.
During 2023, the region with the best results for the technology company was Asia-Pacific, where bookings increased by 63.7%, followed by Western Europe, where they grew by 13.3%.
During the year, Western Europe and North America were the largest regions in terms of bookings, accounting for 28.2% and 27% of Amadeus bookings, respectively.
In terms of Amadeus passengers boarded, Asia-Pacific was the best performing region, achieving growth of 55.4%, while Western Europe and Asia-Pacific were the largest regions for the company, with 32.7% and 29.4%, respectively.
Regarding the hotel area and payment business, both segments registered high growth rates, thanks to new client implementations and increased volumes, according to the technology company.
In hotels, the company continues to advance in its Amadeus Central Reservation System (ACRS) implementation strategy.
For its part in the payments business, Outpayce, the payments subsidiary wholly owned by Amadeus, expects to receive in the first half of 2024 the license to operate with electronic money (eMoney) that it requested in 2022. Outpayce intends to offer issuance of virtual prepaid cards within its B2B Wallet solution, which travel agencies use to pay travel providers such as airlines and hotels.
