Travelport’s fourth-quarter loss doubled from a year earlier, as losing a master-services agreement with United Airlines and a loss from its investment in Orbitz Worldwide more than offset the effect of increased revenue per booking and new airline contracts.
Travelport, the world’s largest GDS operator, said that the loss of the United Airlines contract cut revenue by $26 million and reduced operating income by $19 million. The company’s loss from its Orbitz investment widened to $80 million from a $22 million loss a year earlier.
Orbitz said last month that its fourth-quarter loss widened to $314.6 million from a $46.5 million loss a year earlier, due to $321.2 million noncash impairment charge.
Travelport boosted its processing revenue per average segment by 5% to $5.47, and inked almost three dozen new airline content agreements, including with Air China, Lufthansa, Air China and Qantas.
Travelport’s net loss widened to $165 million from an $82 million loss a year earlier, while revenue fell 1.7% to $457 million.
For the year, Travelport took a $236 million loss, compared to net income of $175 million in 2011. Revenue in 2012 fell 1.6% to $2 billion.
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