Amadeus continues strong growth momentum into 2018
Competitive gains in both Distribution and IT Solutions powered growth in revenues and profitability in the first quarter of the year.
- Revenue increased 3.1%, to €1,230.0 million (8.2% growth excluding foreign exchange effects)
- EBITDA grew 7.4%, to €539.0 million (7.9% growth excluding foreign exchange and IFRS 16 effect) (1)
- In the Distribution segment, travel agency air bookings reached 160.0 million, which represents growth of 3.7%
- In IT Solutions, Passengers Boarded increased 22.7% to 416.9 million
Luis Maroto, President & CEO of Amadeus, commented:
“Air volumes in our Distribution segment grew at a steady pace. We also continued to secure and expand content for our subscribers by renewing or signing content agreements with nine airlines“.
"In IT Solutions, we saw progress throughout our customer base, with new contracts such as the one with Philippine Airlines for Alt a or the one with ASA Cape Verde Airports, which contracted ACUS Mobile during the quarter. We also progressed well on our upselling efforts, with existing customers like Qantas contracting further Amadeus solutions. Our international footprint continued to expand: 65.3% of our passengers boarded(4) were generated outside Europe. In Airport IT, we now serve 280 customers around the world“.
"We look at the rest of the year with confidence and expect to maintain a positive growth trend“.
1.We have also applied IFRS16 from Jan 1, 2018, giving rise to new assets and liabilities for our operating leases as of January 1, 2018 and consequently impacting the recognition of operating lease costs in the P&L. 2017 figures are not impacted for the application of this standard.
2.2017 figures have been restated for IFRS 15 and IFRS 9, which we applied since January 2018
3.We have applied IFRS16 from Jan 1, 2018, giving rise to new assets and liabilities for our operating leases as of January 1, 2018 and consequently impacting the recognition of operating lease costs in the P&L. 2017 figures are not impacted for the application of this standard.
4.Passengers boarded (PB): actual passengers boarded onto flights operated by airlines using at least Amadeus Alt a Reservation and Inventory modules or Navitaire’s New Skies solution.
Financial highlights for the three first months of the year
In June 2018, the Board of Directors will submit to the General Shareholders’ Meeting for approval a final gross dividend of €1.135 per share, representing a 20.7% increase in comparison with the dividend in 2016. An interim dividend of €0.48 per share (gross) was paid in January.
As part of our share repurchase program (announced in December 2017), at the close of March we had acquired 2,165,144 shares for an amount of €130.6 million. This is part of the first tranche of the program (January 1, 2018 to March 31, 2019, non-cancellable) during which we will buy shares for up to €500 million.
Consolidated debt as per our financial covenants’ terms amounted to €2,026.9 million at March 31, 2018 (1.07 times last-twelve-month covenant EBITDA).
Business highlights for the first three months of the year
- Revenue increased 2.1% to €795.5 million (mid- to-high single digit growth excluding FX effect)
- Travel agency air bookings grew 3.7% to 160.0 million
Jan-Mar 2018 | % of total | Jan-Mar 2017 | % of total | % change | |
Western Europe | 56.3 | 35.2 | 60.3 | 39.1 | -6.6 |
Asia & Pacific | 33.1 | 20.7 | 28.0 | 18.1 | 18.3 |
North America | 29.7 | 18.5 | 27.0 | 17.5 | 9.8 |
Middle East & Africa | 17.8 | 11.1 | 18.0 | 11.7 | -0.9 |
Central, Eastern & Southern Europe | 13.2 | 8.2 | 11.6 | 7.5 | 13.1 |
Latin America | 9.9 | 6.2 | 9.4 | 6.1 | 6.3 |
Total TA Air bookings | 160.0 | 100.0 | 154.3 | 100.0 | 3.7 |
- Revenue grew 5.1% to €434.5 million (low double-digit growth excluding FX effect)
- Amadeus passengers boarded increased to 416.9 million, 22.7% more than in the same quarter of 2017
Mar 2018 | % of total | Jan-Mar 2017 | % of total | % change | |
Asia & Pacific | 144.4 | 34.6 | 116.5 | 34.3 | 23.9 |
Western Europe | 124.3 | 29.8 | 122.3 | 36.0 | 1.6 |
North America | 56.3 | 13.5 | 17.6 | 5.2 | 219.8 |
Latin America | 39.2 | 9.4 | 36.7 | 10.8 | 6.8 |
Middle East & Africa | 32.5 | 7.8 | 29.5 | 8.7 | 10.3 |
Central, Eastern & Southern Europe | 20.3 | 4.9 | 17.1 | 5.0 | 18.7 |
Total passengers boarded | 416.9 | 100.0 | 339.6 | 100 | 22.7 |
Summary of operating and financial information
Jan-Mar 2018 | Jan-Mar 2017 (1) | Change | |
Operating KPI | |||
TA air competitive position (2) | 43.6% | 43.5% | 0.1 p.p. |
TA air bookings (m) | 160.0 | 154.3 | 3.7% |
Non air bookings (m) | 17.1 | 17.0 | 0.7% |
Total bookings (m) | 177.1 | 171.3 | 3.4% |
Passengers boarded (m) | 416.9 | 339.6 | 22.7% |
Financial results | |||
Distribution revenue | 795.5 | 779.0 | 2.1% |
IT Solutions revenue | 434.5 | 413.5 | 5.1% |
Revenue | 1,230.0 | 1,192.5 | 3.1% |
EBITDA | 539.0 | 501.8 | 7.4% |
EBITDA margin (%) | 43.8% | 42.1% | 1.7 p.p |
Adjusted profit (3) | 305.6 | 292.9 | 4.3% |
Adjusted EPS (euros) (4) | 0.71 | 0.67 | 6.6% |
Cash flow | |||
Capital expenditure | 162.9 | 155.1 | 5.0% |
Free cash flow (5) | 305.1 | 285.5 | 6.9% |
Indebtedness (6) | Mar 31,2018 | Dec 31,2017 | Change |
Covenant Net Financial Debt | 2,026.9 | 2,083.3 | (2.7%) |
Covenant Net Financial Debt/LTM Covenant EBITDA | 1.07x | 1.12x |
1.2017 figures have been restated for IFRS 15 and IFRS 9. See Management Review for details on these accounting changes as well as for a reconciliation to the 2017 reported figures
2.Competitive position is measured as our TA air bookings in relation to the TA air booking industry, defined as the total volume of travel agency air bookings processed by the global Central Reservation System (CRS). Excludes air bookings made directly through in-house airline systems or single country operators, the latter primarily in China, Japan and Russia.
3.Excluding after-tax impact of the following items: (i) accounting effects derived from PPA exercises and impairment losses, (ii) non-operating exchange gains (losses) and (iii) other non-recurring items.
4.EPS corresponding to the Adjusted profit attributable to the parent company. Calculated based on weighted average outstanding shares of the period.
5.Calculated as EBITDA minus capital expenditure plus changes in our operating working capital minus taxes paid minus interests and financial fees paid.
6.Based on the definition included in the senior credit agreement covenants.
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