Sabre reported a 3 percent decline year over year in air bookings during the first quarter, below prior expectations, but the travel technology company is holding on to its projection for double-digit percentage bookings growth for the full year of 2025.
The air bookings decline was three to four percentage points lower than Sabre's previous expectations of flat to nominal growth for air bookings in the first quarter, Sabre CEO Kurt Ekert said in an earnings call on Wednesday.
He said the decline stemmed from "a broad softness globally" that "spanned corporate, leisure, pretty much all channels." In particular, inbound travel to the U.S. from Canada and certain European markets was down, as were group bookings from North Asia. U.S. military and government bookings were down about 30 percent year over year, he said.
Ekert said Sabre is seeing "recent improvements in general market trends," and the company projects low-single-digit percentage air distribution bookings growth for the second quarter. For the full year, Sabre projects double-digit percentage air distribution growth, but that won't stem from EDIFACT global distribution booking growth, which Sabre projects will be down 1 percent to 2 percent year over year industrywide.
"When we speak about the double-digit air distribution volume growth, the vast majority of that is business that we signed and will be implementing," Ekert said. "The addition of new content will drive that as well."
Ekert said Sabre will build off "notable" agency wins in 2024, which included World Travel, Inc., and the company recently was selected by Gray Dawes to serve as its sole GDS partner. Sabre CFO Mike Randolfi said he expected 20 percent growth in air distribution bookings in the second half of the year, the majority of which will come from agency agreements that are already signed and not yet implemented.
Sabre also continues to expand its New Distribution Capability content, with 38 NDC integrations live, and low-cost carrier volumes via the Sabre AirConnect platform, set for the third quarter, will contribute to growth as well, Ekert said.
Sabre's lodging, ground and sea bookings were up 5 percent year over year in the first quarter, and total distribution revenue declined 1 percent year over year to $569.1 million. IT solutions revenue declined 6 percent year over year to $133 million, as Sabre reported an impact from "previously de-migrated carriers."
Sabre Hospitality Solutions revenue increased 8 percent year over year to $85.2 million in the first quarter. Sabre last week announced it was selling that unit to private equity and investment firm TPG for $1.1 billion, which Ekert said "enables us to strengthen our balance sheet by reducing leverage nearly a full turn and sharpen our focus on core growth areas."
Sabre reported net income of $35.3 million for the first quarter, compared with a loss of $71.5 million in the first quarter of 2024.
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