Lastminute.com reveals lastquarter.profit

Lastminute.com has announced gross profits for its first quarter of £25m - representing a 128 per cent increase on the same quarter last year.

Driving the company's surge in profits was a 68.3 per cent hike in revenues, from £87.1m in the comparable quarter of 2003 to £146.6m for Q1 2004.

The only blemish on the otherwise positive balance sheet was an EBITDA loss of £1.1m, but even this is an improvement on a £1.6m loss 12 months ago.

Brent Hoberman, the company's CEO and joint-founder, believes recent acquisitions have played a major part in the strong results.

Lastminute.com has recently added more companies to its stable of properties. First Option Hotel Reservations and Med Hotels were the two most recent acquisitions

"The acquisitions have substantially strengthened our hotels offering, which in turn is driving a sustainable trend in gross margins," said Hoberman in a statement.

Allan Leighton, chairman of lastminute.com, suggested that the acquisition spree is far from over.

"The group has continued to make significant progress in what is our seasonally weakest quarter. We expect to see sustained improvements throughout our business as we move forward during the remainder of the financial year. The acquisition pipeline remains strong and we anticipate further activity during the coming months," he said in a statement.