By Andy McCue, 14 October 2004 12:50
NEWS Online travel firm ebookers says it is still in talks with potential buyers for the company despite another high-profile suitor dropping out earlier this month.
Rival online travel site Expedia's parent company InterActiveCorp dropped plans to buy the firm last week but in a trading statement today, ebookers said talks with other buyers are still ongoing.
"Discussions are continuing regarding the possible sale of the company. These discussions may or may not lead to an offer being made for the company and the board will make a further announcement as appropriate," the statement said.
The news boosted ebookers shares, which had risen by 11 per cent earlier today.
Ebookers has been looking for a buyer since it issued a profit warning and undertook a round of job cuts back in May.
Ebookers said cost savings from the restructuring are now kicking in with manpower-related costs down 10 per cent on the previous quarter. Gross sales are expected to be £155m to £157m when the full quarterly results are released next month.
Dinesh Dhamija, CEO at ebookers, said in a statement: "Online and web-enabled sales are now 65 per cent of our business and are growing strongly. We have also taken significant manpower-related costs out of our business and are better positioned for future profitability."
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