Irish travel software firm Datalex today announced its interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2007.

Total revenue was $15.7m compared with $12.4m in H1 2006. The firm had a net loss of $(0.9m) compared with a profit of $1.6m in 2006.

“The results show the first tangible benefits of the Datalex transition to a transaction pricing model and of its commitment to investment in its Travel Distribution Platform (TDP). It is particularly pleasing to see further evidence of the success of the strategy we adopted in the last two years,” said CEO Cormac Whelan.

E-business revenue increased by 44% from $8.9m in H1 ’06 to $12.8m in H1 ’07, due mainly to the growth in transaction revenue from $0.7m in H1 ’06 to $3.7m in H1 ‘07.  Datalex says that it has a growing number of top brands in the global travel market using our Travel Distribution Platform, including, Aer Lingus, SAS, United Airlines, Aero Mexico, Saudi Arabian Airlines, Virgin Atlantic Airlines, STA Travel and Flightcentre.

The net loss for the period of $0.9m (profit of $1.6m in H1 ’06) was as a result of general cost pressures, including the impact of a weak dollar. The group has completed a once off restructuring programme and incurred a $1.2m charge in H1 which will result in an expected $2m reduction in ongoing annual operating costs.

“The H1 ’07 results continues to demonstrate Datalex’s ongoing commitment to invest in the development of our product suite. The investment totalled at $11.9m at 30 June 2007 ($9.8m at 31 December 2006). Our product suite has already delivered high quality functionality to the airline industry including calendar shopping, availability cache, and delivery of ancillary airline revenues through our business rules engine (seat allocation, baggage charges, car hire, insurance, discount models and yield management services).”

The scope of the product suite has now expanded and has opened opportunities for Datalex in the broader leisure market (travel agencies and tour operators), with two of the world’s largest travel agencies, Flight Centre and STA Travel, contracting to use its TDP software as their global solution in both their point of sales (shops and call centers) and online channels. The combination of our business model and our product leave us with a strong pipeline of potential new customers.

Airlines and travel companies are becoming more strategic about developing alternative distribution and revenue channels. For our customers, Datalex software is a primary enabler in driving new products and services to consumers in both the online and the offline channels. In short, Datalex increasingly is a key part of our customers’ infrastructure,” added Whelan.