Letsbuyit finds funds despite losses

NEWS Shares in Letsbuyit - traded on the German Neuer Markt - rose by as much as 59 per cent on the news but have since fallen back slightly. However, at the same time as announcing the investment, Letsbuyit revealed it is re-negotiating an earlier deal which would have seen E30m (£18.6m) invested in the company. Under the terms of the deal, Shmulik Stein International Investments was to put in E3.8m (£2.3m) immediately with a further E26.2m (£16.3m) to follow. It has so far given Letsbuyit just E949,000 (£588,000). Letsbuyit is currently struggling to rebuild itself after it was saved at the last minute from bankruptcy by an injection of cash in January. Shares in the ailing company have twice been suspended and it has sacked two hundred staff. Today's announcement coincided with end of year results for the company, showing a loss of E141m (£87.4m) on revenue of just E38m (£23.6m). In other dot-com news, travel e-tailer ebookers.com announced results showing it on course to achieve operating profitability by the end of the year. It reported an operating loss of £8.3m on revenues of £33.3m. At midday, ebookers shares were up 21 per cent on the London Stock Exchange.