sabre confident of growth despite profit fall

SABRE claims it is confident of long-term growth despite seeing profits fall by almost 10% during 2001.

The global distributions system’s results for the year ending Jan 31, 2001, showed profits fall 9.7% to £162.4 million, down from £180 million last year. The company has blamed the September 11 terrorist attacks and current economic conditions for the drop.

Chairman and chief executive officer William Hannigan was upbeat: “We continue to see global booking trends improve and in the fourth quarter we took actions to better align our cost structure with the realities of a gradually recovering industry. As the leader in all channels of Travel distribution, we remain well positioned for long-term growth,” he said.

Revenues in the first quarter of 2002 are expected to be reduced compared to 2001, but will show signs of improvement.