While Sabre's global bookings were up 3.2% year over year in
the third quarter, growth was dampened by about 1% due to the hurricanes that
hit parts of the U.S. and the Caribbean in August and September.
Bookings in North America and Latin America were both down
1.9% in the quarter as a result of the storms, CFO Rick Simonson said. Global
growth was driven by a 16% increase in bookings in EMEA (Europe, the Middle
East and Africa) and 10.8% growth in Asia Pacific.
Also on the earnings call, CEO Sean Menke outlined a
timeline for the company to achieve Level 2 and 3 certification for IATA's New
Distribution Capability (NDC).
IATA certifies airlines, travel agencies, aggregators and IT
providers at one of three levels, with Level 3 denoting the highest level of
NDC compliance. Sabre is Level 1 certified.
According to Menke, Sabre is on track to achieve Level 2
certification by the second quarter of 2018, and Level 3 by the third quarter.
He said Sabre is working on NDC solutions with both its
airline and agency customers.
"It's not about direct versus indirect," he said of
NDC. "It's about facilitating retailing across all channels, and we expect
the GDS and our agency customers will continue to have an important role to
play."
Sabre reported $91 million in net income, a 122.9% increase
from $40.8 million. The increase was partially attributed to a $27.5 million
settlement with insurance carriers from litigation settled in 2012, Sabre said.
Sabre's Q3 revenue was $900.6 million, up 7.3% from last
year's $839 million.