Sabre reports first quarter growth led by EMEA region

The EMEA region led global travel network growth for Sabre in the first quarter of the year.

The EMEA region led global travel network growth for Sabre in the first quarter of the year.

Bookings, driven by new agency conversions and share gains, rose by almost 12% year-on-year – more than five times the overall GDS market growth in the region.

Overall travel network revenue increased by 23% to $625.5 million, while bookings were up by 28% to 134,887 against the first three months of 2015.

Growth was driven by last year’s Abacus acquisition and increased bookings across much of the world, driving global market share up 1.7 points to 37.4%, according to Sabre.

Revenue increased 16% in the Airline and Hospitality Solutions business, with 45% growth to 183 million passengers boarded using the SabreSonic bookings system. The migration of American Airlines in the final quarter of last year and Air Seychelles in March contributed to the increase.

Total revenue was up by 21% year-on-year to $859.5 million with adjusted earnings [EDITDA] rising by 18% to $287.5 million.

Sabre completed its acquisition of Trust Group in January, taking the number of hotels using Sabre’s guest reservations system to more than 30,000 worldwide.

President and chief executive, Tom Klein, said: “Our solid start to the year sets us on a course to meet our full-year operational and financial objectives.

“Our focus on creating platforms for innovation and enabling our customers’ success continues to drive our growth.

“The breadth of our software solutions and depth of our customer relationships uniquely positions us to continue to define and lead the travel technology industry.”

He added: “We continue to innovate to enable change in the industries we serve while earning a greater share of the technology spend in those growing sectors.

“We are seeing very positive customer response to our new product offerings and our ability to execute on our customers’ behalf.”