Datalex sees 11 per cent rise in first-half platform revenues

Travel software specialist Datalex has reported a 3 per cent rise in first-half revenues to $20.8 million (€18.08m) with platform revenue up 11 per cent to $10.6 million (€9.21m).

The company, which on Thursday also reaffirmed full-year earnings growth of 20-25 per cent, said cash reserves rose to 13 per cent to $16.2 million after a 50 per cent increase in dividends paid.

Adjusted ebitda was unchanged at $3.8million. Net profit in the period was $0.3 million as against $0.6 million a year earlier after an increase in amortisation and depreciation charges of $0.3 million.

Founded in 1985, Datalex, which trades on the Iseq, is headquartered in Dublin and maintains offices across Europe and the US.

The company said a number of new customers went live on its commerce platform during the first six months of the year, including JetBlue Airways, Abacus and Lufthansa Group carrier, Edelweiss. It also signed its third customer in China during the period under review.

“We anticipate continued strong growth in our market over the next five years, as major travel retailers look to move beyond traditional ecommerce management, and develop a more sophisticated approach to customer engagement, both of which will require significant investment by them in new platform capabilities,” the group said.

Total costs increased by 5 per cent to $20.6 million in the six months, driven mainly by increased customer deployments and product development activities, together with the increased depreciation and amortisation charges. Total net trade receivables and accrued income at the end of June was $10 million.

“2015 is a year of continued strong performance, growth and transformation for Datalex. We are deploying our commerce platform at some of the world’s leading airlines in the Americas, Europe and China, which will drive our financial performance through the remainder of 2015 and beyond,” the group said.

“We are engaging in a significant programme of investment in our product and the capabilities required to scale the business. In parallel, we are establishing a global partner network to increase our product and market reach and help us serve our growing customer base. We remain confident that we will achieve 20-25 per cent growth in Adjusted ebitda for the full year,” it added.