Webjet

For the Brazilian airline, see WebJet Linhas Aéreas.
Webjet Limited
Public
Industry Travel
Founded 1998
Founder David Clarke, John Lemish, Allan Nahum
Headquarters Melbourne, Australia
Slogan "Experience the wonder"
Website www.webjet.com.au

Webjet Limited (ASX: WEB) is a travel booking website offering flights, hotels, holiday packages, cruises, car hire, travel insurance and travel deals. The company has operations in Australia, New Zealand, North America, Singapore and Hong Kong. Webjet also has a franchise agreement for brand and booking engine associated technology licenses with BidTravel, South Africa.[1]

History

Established in 1998, Webjet was founded by former Jetset Travel Chief Executive David Clarke. The company was publicly listed on the ASX in 2000 through a reverse takeover deal with Roper River Resources NL.[2]

Webjet announced their plans to open their New Zealand website, Webjet.co.nz on 21 July 2004.[3]

In 2007, Webjet made a bid for the website Travel.com.au valued at approximately $42.3 million.[4] The deal failed following a bid from Wotif.com which valued Travel.com.au at approximately $49.8 million.[5]

On 17 September 2009 Webjet announced their plans to commence operations in North America (Webjet.com) through a Joint Venture with Mathias Friess, formerly General Manager Global Sales and Distribution of the Virgin Blue Group of Airlines.[6]

On 30 June 2010 it was announced that Webjet had entered into a Joint Venture with Westminster Travel in Asia to initially cover the establishment of Webjet in Singapore (Webjet.com.sg) and Hong Kong (Webjet.com.hk).[7]

In August 2010, it was announced that the board of Webjet would be restructured, with the chairman, Allan Nahum, stepping down from his role but continuing as a non-executive director. Webjet said the restructuring was to help "the best possible balance of executive and non-executive directors".[8] John Guscic assumed the role of Managing Director for Webjet on April 1, 2011,[9] while former Managing Director and founder David Clarke assumed the role of Non Executive Chairman.[10] Upon assuming the role of Managing Director, Guscic claimed that Webjet would have a renewed focus on "securing more hotel business".[11]

In February 2011 Webjet announced the launch of Lots of Hotels, a B2B international hotel aggregation platform operating in the Middle East and Africa, offering the most extensive inventory in the region with over one million hotel rooms on sale world-wide.[12]

Webjet reported record profits in their "Annual Results 30 June 2011" published on 11 August 2011, displaying a 17% growth in total transaction value to $592 million, a net profit before tax growth of 8% to $15.7 million, as well as net profit after tax up 5% to $11 million.[13][14] The record profits were realised in the same period as an operating loss of $700,000 for Webjet's markets in the United States and Asia.[15] Due to the record profits, a dividend of six cents per share was paid to investors in October 2011, taking the yearly payout overall to eleven cents per share.[16]

On 8 February 2012, the company announced in their "Half Year Results Ended 31 Dec 2011" that TTV for the half-year had grown 29% to $369 million, and that NPAT was up 17% to $5.9 million, marking sixteen consecutive half-years of growth.[17][18]

In December 2012, Webjet announced it had entered agreements to acquire Zuji in Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore.[19] The deal was described as allowing Webjet to "substantially expand" its presence in Asia, with Webjet required to raise $25 million in order to complete the purchase.[20] The acquisition was completed on 22 March 2013.[21]

On 21 August 2013, Webjet announced a profit of $11.4 million and NBAT of $6.5 million. During the year the company experienced a growth in total transaction values of $110 million from $768 million to $884 million.[22]

On 14 July 2014, Webjet announced it entered into a binding Heads of Agreement to acquire the SunHotels Group in Europe.[23]

On 20 August 2014, Webjet announced record results in their Annual Results 30 June 2014, with $19.1 million NPAT and total revenues of $98.6 million, up 31.9% over the previous corresponding period.[24]

Technology

Webjet is a hotel, flights and car hire metasearch engine. The booking functionality is powered by Galileo and the iVector platform. The site provides an aggregated summary of hotel reviews and ratings from Tripadvisor.

Awards

Webjet was ranked the most-visited site in the Hitwise 'Travel - Agencies' category against other Australian websites 9 times between 2007 and 2010.[25] BRW recognised the company in their 'Fast 100 Award' every year between 2005 and 2008.[26]

In 2011 Webjet was announced as one of 200 "Best Under a Billion" companies by Forbes Asia.[27] The business has won several other awards from Deloitte, Travel Tech, iAwards, Macquarie Telecom, Galileo, and Ernst & Young.

Major sponsorships

On 13 April 2012, it was announced that Webjet would take over the sponsorship of Melbourne Football Club. It sponsored the team until the end of the 2013 season[28] On 3 August 2012, it was announced that Webjet had signed a two-year deal with Hyundai A-League club Sydney FC as their main jersey sponsor.[29] On 23 November 2013 Webjet announced it had signed a two-year deal as Sydney Thunder’s Principal Sponsor for the 2012/2013 and 2013/2014 seasons.[30]

References

  1. ↑ "Webjet enters into first international franchise agreement". 24 July 2012.
  2. ↑ "Roper/WEBJET Deal Complete". 23 March 2000. Retrieved 10 May 2014.
  3. ↑ "ASX/Media Releases". Webjet.com.au. Webjet. 21 July 2004. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
  4. ↑ AAP. "Travel.com.au to consider Wotif bid". theage.com.au. Retrieved 28 November 2013.
  5. ↑ AAP. "Travel.com.au to consider Wotif bid". theage.com.au. Retrieved 28 November 2013.
  6. ↑ "ASX/Media Releases". Webjet.com.au. Webjet. 17 September 2009. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
  7. ↑ "Webjet Expands into Asia Via JV with Westminster". au.ibtimes.com. 1 July 2010. Retrieved 27 December 2010.
  8. ↑ AAP. "Webjet announces board shake-up". Retrieved 28 November 2013.
  9. ↑ Lee, Tracy. "Webjet to overhaul its hotel offerings". The Australian. Retrieved 28 November 2013.
  10. ↑ "ASX/Media Releases". Webjet.com.au. Webjet. 21 March 2011. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
  11. ↑ Lee, Tracy. "Webjet to overhaul its hotel offerings". The Australian. Retrieved 28 November 2013.
  12. ↑ "Webjet Launches Lots of Hotels in Middle East". Webjet.com.au. Webjet. 11 February 2013. Retrieved 11 February 2014.
  13. ↑ "Full Year Results Ended 30 June 2011". Webjet.com.au. Webjet. 11 August 2011. Retrieved 11 September 2011.
  14. ↑ O'Sullivan, Matt. "Flying high: Webjet's second half saves the year". smh.com.au. Retrieved 28 November 2013.
  15. ↑ O'Sullivan, Matt. "Flying high: Webjet's second half saves the year". smh.com.au. Retrieved 28 November 2013.
  16. ↑ O'Sullivan, Matt. "Flying high: Webjet's second half saves the year". smh.com.au. Retrieved 28 November 2013.
  17. ↑ "Half Year Results Ended 31 Dec 2011". Webjet.com.au. Webjet. 8 February 2012. Retrieved 8 February 2012.
  18. ↑ AAP. "Webjet gains altitude". Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 28 November 2013.
  19. ↑ "Webjet acquisition of Zuji to propel TTV by 30 percent". 12 December 2012.
  20. ↑ O'Sullivan, Matt. "Webjet snaps up Zuji in Asian push". smh.com.au. Retrieved 28 November 2013.
  21. ↑ "Completion of Zuji Purchase". 22 March 2013.
  22. ↑ "Annual Results to 30 June 2013". Webjet.com.au. Webjet. 8 February 2012. Retrieved 8 February 2012.
  23. ↑ "Significant Webjet Growth Acquisition in Europe". Webjet.com.au. Webjet. 14 July 2014. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
  24. ↑ "Annual Results to 30 June 2014". Webjet.com.au. Webjet. 20 August 2014. Retrieved 20 August 2014.
  25. ↑ Hitwise Australi Online Performance Award Winners 2008
  26. ↑ Amazing Growth Places Webjet in 2006 BRW Fast 100 List
  27. ↑ Australia's Multi Award Winnine Online Travel Service
  28. ↑ "Dees fly with new sponsor". www.theage.com.au. 13 April 2012. Retrieved 13 April 2012.
  29. ↑ "Sydney FC and Webjet Agree Major Partnership". Sydney FC. 3 August 2012. Retrieved 8 October 2012.
  30. ↑ "Webjet signs with Thunder". 23 November 2013.

External links