Sabre reported a 4 percent increase year over year in global bookings in the fourth quarter, and the company expects "significant volume growth" in air distribution this year, Sabre president and CEO Kurt Ekert said in an earnings call on Thursday.
Global bookings for the quarter totaled 81 million, and Sabre's fourth-quarter average fee per booking increased 1 percent year over year to $6.17. That growth boosted Sabre's fourth-quarter distribution revenue 5 percent year over year to $500 million, and total revenue for its travel solutions group was up 4 percent to $645 million.
For the full year of 2024, Sabre's global bookings totaled 363 million, up 2 percent from 2023, and its average booking fee was up 3 percent to $5.98. Distribution revenue for the full year increased 6 percent year over year to $2.2 billion.
Ekert said Sabre's commercial team during 2024 signed new business with global agencies totaling 30 million to 40 million air distribution segments, which he said bodes well for 2025 performance.
"In 2025, we expect double-digit growth for air distribution bookings, hotel distribution bookings and hospitality solutions [central reservation system] transactions," Ekert said. "We expect the majority of growth in air distribution bookings will come from a number of signed, but not yet fully implemented agreements, including the largest Korean [online travel agency] as well as World Travel, Inc."
Sabre's hospitality solutions business reported revenue of $81 million for the fourth quarter, up 8 percent year over year. That was driven by an increase in CRS transactions, in part due to new customer deployments, according to Sabre.
IT solutions revenue declined 1 percent year over year to $145 million in the fourth quarter.
Sabre's total revenue for the fourth quarter increased 4 percent year over year to $714.7 million, and Sabre reported a net loss of $74.7 million for the quarter, an improvement from a $96.5 million loss in the fourth quarter of 2023. For the full year, Sabre's net loss was $278.8 million, about half the net loss of $541.9 million in 2023.
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