MADRID, 8 May. (EUROPA PRESS) -
Amadeus earned 313.9 million euros in the first quarter of 2024, 19.6% higher than the 262.4 million euros in the same period of the previous year, thanks to the double-digit growth of its activity segments.
As reported this Wednesday by the company to the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV), Amadeus's adjusted profit stood at 324.5 million euros between January and March, compared to 273.1 million euros in the first three months of 2023, which represents 18.8% more.
In addition, the technology firm's ordinary income increased by 14% in the first three months of 2024, up to 1,496.3 million euros, thanks to increases in billing in the Air Distribution and Technological Solutions for the Air Industry segments. and Hotels and Other Solutions.
The gross operating result (Ebitda) of the group stood at 582 million euros, 14.2% more than the 509.8 million euros corresponding to the first quarter of 2023.
For its part, free cash flow rose to 336.1 million euros, bringing net financial debt to 2,460 million euros as of March 31, a figure equivalent to 1.1 times the Ebitda of the twelve previous months.
With these data, the CEO of Amadeus, Luis Maroto, highlighted that the company is starting 2024 "strongly": "Thanks to this solid start to 2024, we face the rest of the year with confidence."
"We continue to advance our strategic initiatives. We implemented our NDC technology at Expedia Group, which is an important recognition of our commitment to deploy this technology at scale in our sector, while British Airways hired Amadeus Nevio," he added.
As previously announced, next June, the board of directors will submit a total gross dividend of 1.24 euros per share for approval at the ordinary general meeting, which represents 50% of the reported profit.
Likewise, the firm will celebrate its 'Investor Day' on June 18, 2024 in London (United Kingdom), in which the Amadeus management team will report on the development of its strategy in its different businesses and present its vision on the evolution general planned in the medium term, after which a question period will be opened.
AMADEUS STUDIES THE PURCHASE OF NEW COMPANIES
Recently, Maroto admitted that Amadeus plans to purchase new companies if they can "accelerate" their strategy and "create value also for the traveler, and in the end, justify the price for shareholders."
"We will continue to expand to cover the entire area of travel as technology providers in all the 'touch points' that occur between the different players," he explained during his speech at the 'Wake Up!' forum. Spain' from 'El Español'.
In March, Amadeus closed the purchase of the electronic invoicing provider for the travel sector Voxel for an approximate amount of 113 million euros.
The addition of Voxel solutions to the Amadeus offering gives access to a greater variety of payment services for travel agents and allows for more automated electronic invoice management for all agents in the sector, according to a statement.
Thus, the acquisition of Voxel will also help to better serve its corporate clients by further automating the business travel experience, from reservations and payments to expense management.
In addition, the firm announced in April the acquisition of Vision-Box, a provider of biometric solutions for airports, airlines and border controls, for approximately 320 million euros after receiving the necessary regulatory approvals.
Vision-Box has projected revenues of €70 million and an estimated normalized Ebitda of €20 million in 2023. Until now, it was partially owned by KeensightCapital, a venture capital fund.
"The acquisition of Vision-Box will bring new capabilities in the biometric hardware and software environment," said Amadeus, who states that it will now be able to offer passengers "a complete and complex experience, starting with the reservation until arrival at the airport, passing through border control and boarding.
AIR RESERVES GROW BY 2.8%
In the Air Distribution business, revenues registered an increase of 12.6% compared to the previous year, with 764.4 million euros, thanks to the growth of reservation volumes and average income per reservation.
Thus, Air Distribution reservations increased by 2.8% during the quarter, weighed down, as expected, by the negative seasonal effect derived from the Easter and Ramadan festivities.
The region with the best results was Asia-Pacific, which grew by 31.2%. During the period, Western Europe and North America were the largest regions in terms of bookings, accounting for 29.3% and 25% of Amadeus bookings, respectively. The evolution was complemented during the quarter by the 9.5% growth in average revenue per reservation.
In this period, the company signed 16 new contracts or renewals of distribution agreements. China Eastern Airlines became the first airline in mainland China to contract (international) distribution in NDC format with Amadeus, while Amadeus will install NDC technology in Expedia Group, reflecting its commitment to "accelerate the evolution of the sector towards modern sales capabilities.
DOUBLE-DIGIT GROWTH IN THE REST OF THE SEGMENTS
For its part, in Technological Solutions for the Airline Industry, turnover grew by 17%, to 497 million euros, sustained by the evolution of its boarded passengers, which increased by 16.3% thanks to the growth of global air traffic and to the positive impact of customer implementations completed by Amadeus in 2023, primarily Etihad Airways, ITA Airways, Hawaiian Airlines, Bamboo Airways and Allegiant Air.
Finally, between January and March, the income of the Hotels and Other Solutions area stood at 207.5 million euros, which represents an increase of 13.2% compared to the same period in 2023.
Both the Hotels area, which generates most of the revenue in this segment, and the Payments area registered high growth rates, thanks to new client implementations and increased volumes.
