E-Commerce Nearly Eclipses Traditional Bookings At Worldspan

For the first time, Worldspan this month announced quarterly financial performance, saying its June quarter revenue fell 1.3 percent year over year, to $233.1 million, and net earnings plummeted 86 percent, to $5 million. Global booking volume rose 0.5 percent, reflecting a 23.2 percent increase in e-commerce transactions and a 14.3 percent reduction in traditional agency bookings.

Worldspan's total e-commerce bookings are on the verge of surpassing the number of traditional transactions processed, with the former at 24.2 million in the quarter and the latter at 25.9 million. Year to date, traditional bookings fell 14.9 percent, while e-commerce transactions rose 19.5 percent. Worldspan in the quarter spent $4.6 million on "restructuring costs" and $17.3 million for "personnel-related expenses resulting from the change of control." The company was sold by its airline owners to Travel Transaction Processing Corp. (BTN, July 7), prompting the earnings disclosure "because we now own public debt," a spokesperson said.