AMADEUS IT Holding, S.A, parent company of the Amadeus Group announced year-on-year financial and operating results for the full year of 2012.
Adjusted profit from continuing operations for the full year increased 18 per cent to reach €575.1 million ($744 million). This was backed by growth in revenue of 7.5 per cent to €2,910.3 million ($3,770 million) and a 6.6 per cent rise in EBITDA to €1,107.7 million ($1,435 million).
The total dividend for the year was 35 per cent higher at €0.50 ($0.64) per share or €223.8 million ($289.9 million), representing a payout of 45 per cent of the 2012 profit.
Amadeus expanded its global share of travel agency air bookings expanded 0.9 per cent 38.6 per cent while passengers Boarded (PB) grew by 28.4 per cent to 563.8 million.
Luis Maroto, president and CEO of Amadeus, commented: “Despite another year of global macro-economic challenges, Amadeus’ proven business model and geographically diverse base again allowed us to maintain our growth record and increase our year-on-year revenues by 7.5 per cent and adjusted profit by 18 per cent.
“This continued success was supported by an improved performance in both our businesses: Distribution, with higher bookings and revenue, and IT Solutions, which raised Passengers Boarded as it continued to migrate existing customers to the Altéa platform. 2012 has been an outstanding year all round, with a strong financial performance, as well as landmark customer wins such as the Southwest and Expedia contracts in North America.
“In 2013 we are focusing on further consolidating our leading position by evolving our competitive offering, whilst also selectively investing in growth areas such as IT solutions for airports, hotels and rail providers. We are cautiously optimistic about 2013 and expect revenue and contribution to continue to grow across both businesses, based upon our experience and taking into account the resiliency of our business model.”
During the final quarter of the year, Amadeus continued to deliver on its commitment to guarantee access to a comprehensive range of fares, schedules and availability for its travel agents, reaching content agreements with Aegean Airlines, Air France KLM, Cubana de Aviación, Gulf Air, Korean Air, Lao Central Airlines, Malaysian Airlines, and Virgin Australia. Around 80 per cent of Amadeus bookings worldwide are with airlines where a content agreement is in place. Additionally, global distribution agreements were signed with eight new airlines including Air Asia Japan, Air Zimbabwe, Amaszonas, Avia Traffic Company, Boutique Air, Equaflight, Peruvian Airlines, and Tradewind Aviation – making them accessible to travel agencies globally via the Amadeus system. It was also announced that earlier in the year Jetstar Japan had signed a global distribution agreement.
LCC bookings from travel agencies using Amadeus increased by 14.9 per cent in the fourth quarter, in line with the 14.6 per cent increase over the full year.
SJ Swedish Rail, Sweden’s largest rail operator, both extended and expanded its content agreement and commercial partnership to make its content also available through additional channels integrated into Amadeus’ Global Rail Sales Platform, the rail-specific distribution service. Several other landmark partnership deals were signed in 2012 with rail operators such as Trenitalia, SNCF, Lyria, and Thalys.
Further to Amadeus and Expedia signing a multi-year content and technology agreement for North America in April 2012, which provided Expedia with Amadeus’ fare search technologies for air travel among other products, as well as access to global travel supplier content through the Amadeus system, Expedia’s launch on Amadeus during the summer of 2012 was virtually flawless. Since then, Expedia has been steadily ramping up the volumes of bookings made on the Amadeus system.
Pioneering world-leading travel technology solutions for travel agents remained at the forefront of Amadeus’ activity. At the PhoCusWright Conference Travel Innovation Summit in November 2012, Amadeus introduced Amadeus Featured Results, the first search solution which boosts the leisure travellers’ purchasing experience by making online travel search simpler and more relevant. Vayama, a leading online travel agency that is part of one of the biggest online travel companies Travix International, became the first pilot customer to implement the beta version.
Meanwhile, Amadeus’ corporate travel segment also launched its new User Interface (UI) and presented its mobile booking application for the online corporate travel booking tool, Amadeus e-Travel Management (AeTM). The new mobile booking app enables efficiency and continuity of service for travellers on the road. Amadeus e-Travel Management helps corporations achieve a higher adoption rate thanks to its new workflow redesign and improved look.
In December, Amadeus was once again confirmed as the European leader for R&D in the travel and tourism area. Amadeus’ commitment to innovation was recognised in The 2012 EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard, an annual report published by the European Commission which examines the largest 1,000 European companies investing in R&D according to the total amount invested.
Unicef and Amadeus signed a global partnership to improve the lives of children worldwide. This partnership aims at setting the foundation for a wider collaboration using technological innovation and engaging the global travel industry to further social development.