On Tuesday, Spanish travel booking giant Amadeus (AMA.MC) reported a near 200% increase in first-quarter adjusted net profit, above analysts’ projections.
The three-month adjusted net profit was 273.1 million euros ($300.6 million), up from 95 million a year earlier and 334.7 million in the first quarter of 2019.
Refinitiv analysts predicted a 241.2 million euro adjusted net profit.
After China reopened in January after almost three years of COVID-19 restrictions, the travel sector is on pace to recover from higher interest rates.
“Asia-Pacific traffic recovered particularly well, with Amadeus’ bookings growing above 150% and passengers boarded above 120% in the first quarter compared to the same period last year,” stated CEO Luis Maroto.
Western Europe had the second-highest airline booking growth behind Asia-Pacific, at 44%.
Air travel dominates Amadeus.
The business maintained its February projection of 20% to 22.5% sales growth for 2023.
The group’s shares rose 0.8% at 0805 GMT.
The business expects bookings to improve this month as travel levels rebound.
“We believe that the figures are on a positive recovery path that will take them back to pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2023 or early 2024,” Bankinter analysts said.
