Lastminute profitable by June, probably

Confident, on track and poking its head above the profit parapet...

Lastminute has hit targets for the first quarter and is confident of making a profit in France and the UK in the April - June quarter. For the three months ended 31 December Lastminute made a loss of £7.2m, down from a loss of £11.7m for the same period last year. Total transaction value grew from £20.2m in the first quarter of 2001 to £31.7m this year. Brent Hoberman, chief executive of lastminute.com, said in a statement: "Strong year on year growth deomstrates that our business model is working increasingly well. An increased product range, combined with investments in improved technology has enabled us to exceed all key year on year metrics."