EBOOKERS
has seen its gross profit double to £15 million following the purchase of
Travelbag and Bridge The World.
Reporting
second quarter sales of £118.2 million, the on-line giant made an adjusted loss
of £900,000, which it blamed on a bookings slump to long-haul destinations as a
result of SARS.
Chief
executive Dinesh Dhamija also revealed that Travelbag is currently taking 35%
of its bookings online, up from only 16% at the time of purchase. Ebookers
wants at least 70% of Travelbag’s customers to book online within the next
year.
Meanwhile,
he confirmed plans to expand the company’s Indian call centre by 62,000ft, and
add 1,400 staff, to service its third-party business.