Despite a total year-to-year quarterly revenue increase of 36.5 percent, YTB International reported a net loss for the second quarter of 2008. The company attributed the loss in the second quarter to a “change in the mix of marketing commissions, increased costs associated with infrastructure growth, as well as costs associated with the ongoing implementation of new business strategies company-wide.”
“Our company has experienced dramatic growth over the last 12 months, and we have witnessed an equally dramatic growth in the revenues achieved during that period," said Scott Tomer, CEO of YTB. "Like many rapidly growing companies, we have had to increase our spending to ensure that we have the proper infrastructure in place to support this growth and to ensure that the quality of services that we provide does not suffer. We have worked to narrow our net loss on a sequential basis, and are committed to identifying areas for cost savings and improved efficiencies within our business.”
The Wood River, IL-based company said total revenue for the quarter ending June 30, 2008 increased 36.5 percent to $44.8 million, compared to $32.8 million for the second quarter last year. Total revenue for the six months ending June 30, 2008 increased 53.6 percent to $87.5 million, compared to $57.0 million for the same six-month period last year.
Net loss for the six was $3.7 million, compared to a net loss of $0.5 million, or $0.01 per diluted share, for the same period of 2007. As of June 30, 2008, YTB had $0.6 million in cash and cash equivalents. Net cash provided by operating activities in the first half of 2008 was $4,694,635 as compared to cash provided by operating activities of $3,902,411 in the first half of 2007.
Tomer claims YTB had enjoyed increased travel bookings. "Our improvement in travel bookings represented an 83.7 percent improvement, and this is a remarkable accomplishment," he said. "We understand that the rapid growth of our company is unsettling to many entrenched traditional travel industry companies, but we are also equally aware of the very real benefits of our business model. As we look to the coming quarters, we will continue to work diligently to increase shareholder value, and to ensure that we continue to provide the best products and services to the marketplace.”
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