A “pivotal moment” in the rebound of corporate travel from the pandemic has been indicated by one of the world’s largest business travel organisers.
American Express Global Business Travel (Amex GBT) saw first quarter net losses trimmed to $91 million from $114 million in the same period last year as revenue grew by $224 million or 179% to $350 million.
Transactions growth of 382% was driven by inclusion of online arm Egencia following its acquisition from Expedia last November and the recovery in travel from Covid-19, partially offset by lower yield.
Chief executive Paul Abbott said “We believe we have reached a pivotal moment in the business travel recovery, with transactions reaching 72% of 2019 pro forma levels in the last three weeks of April 2022.
“With the strong momentum in business travel recovery, new wins and our commitment to providing unrivalled value, choice and experiences to our customers, we are confident we are very well positioned for our next phase of growth.”
Chief financial officer Martine Gerow added: “We continue to see strong momentum in the business travel recovery.
“We are gaining share with strong new wins performance and continued momentum with SME [small and medium-sized enterprise] customers.
“We remain on track to deliver significant Egencia synergies and permanent cost reductions.
“Combined, this gives us confidence to raise our full year 2022 guidance and gives us further confidence we are on track to meet our 2023 forecast.”
New client wins year to date include Honda Motors Europe, Novum, Raytheon Technologies and Ferrero Group.
The company is due to start trading on the New York Stock Exchange by the end of the month.