Opodo profits to trigger investment in site

Opodo will introduce new features to its website and a redesign is likely as it looks to build on turning its first ever profit as a business.

The online travel agency will include hotel reviews for the first time in the coming months across its European sites after quietly trialling a project in Germany.

Chief executive Ignacio Martos told Travolution that a full redesign of the site is not due this year, as “heavy investment” is still being made to the company’s technology, but there are plans in place for 2009.

The news comes as Opodo announced this week it had reach profitability for the first time during 2007.

The six-year-old company made net profits of Euro 6.6 million last year on sales of Euro 1.3 billion.

Martos admitted results in 2006 still indicated a double-digit loss but a concentration on core activities across the company had pushed it into profitability in 2007.

The sale of French tour operator Karavel to Barclays Private Equity last summer contributed to the net profit figure, Martos added.

Martos, who took over the reins at Opodo in late-2006, said he expected to increase the company’s net profit into “double-figures” in 2008.

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