ETC.L Regulatory News (ETC)

ET-CHINA.COM INTERNATIONAL HOLDINGS LIMITED

("ETCI", "the Group" or "the Company")

Final results for the year ended 31 December 2009

ETCI, a leading travel services group in the fast growing region of South China, announces its final results for the year ended 31 December 2009.

Highlights:

* Figures in GBP are for illustrative purposes only, the figures are translated using RMB: GBP 12.2303 to 1 (2008) and 10.4289 to 1 (2009) respectively. For the reason that the exchange rate of RMB to GBP fluctuated sharply during 2008 and 2009, investors are recommended to refer to the reported RMB figures for comparisons, or it may distort the Company's performance when only relying on the reported GBP numbers.

Operating Summary

·; GZL, ETCI's package holiday division, achieved net revenues of RMB 1,859.0 million for the year ended 31 December 2009, an increase of approximately 9% over 2008; it has achieved a gross profit of RMB 182.6 million, an increase of approximately 10% over 2008.

·; Et-china, serving the Frequent Independent Travel market, achieved net revenue of RMB 29.3 million (2008: RMB 43.0 million), a decrease of 32% but achieved a gross profit of RMB 12.9 million, an increase of 37% over 2008.

·; e-ticketing JV net revenue increased to RMB 47.2 million (2008: RMB 33.1 million), representing an increase of 43% and a gross profit increase of 29% from RMB 20.0 million in 2008 to RMB 25.8 million in 2009.

·; Strong Chinese economic growth and a number of Chinese Government driven travel incentives as well as Chinese based events should drive growth in 2010 and beyond.

Financial Summary

·; ETCI disposed of its entire holding in Grandbuy Department in 2009 for approximately RMB 63.6 million, resulting in a gain of RMB 60.3 million.

·; The changes in fair value conversion of convertible loan notes contributed RMB 5 million profit to the net results.

·; The Group made a provision of RMB 6.2 million against a fraud case in 2009 which was discovered in March 2010.

·; The cost of share options for the year of 2009 was RMB 5.5million.

·; The interest expenses on convertible loan notes and other loans was RMB 15.7 million.

·; Balance sheet strengthened; cash and cash equivalents at the end of 2009 was RMB 281.7 million (£27.0 million). Net cash was RMB 184.8 million (£17.7million).

One of the major shareholders, KUONI, increased its holding to 32.5% and acquired the convertible bond of GBP 500,000 which was previously held by GSPAN Ltd in February 2010.

Mr. Hong Zheng, an Executive Director of the Company, has tended his resignation on 31st March 2010 due to age and personal reasons. He will stay on as a non-executive director in GZL until the end of 2010. The board of directors would like to thank him for his contribution over his 20 years services at GZL and wish him well in his retirement.

The Group will publish and send to shareholders its 2009 Annual Report, including audited financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2009, by 30 June 2010.

Contact details for enquiries:

Interim Chairman and CEO Statement

I am pleased to announce the Group's third full year results as a public company. It has been another challenging year for the Company in terms of the operating environment but the Group has adapted well to adverse external conditions, such as financial crisis starting from end of 2008 and H1N1 health scare, and has made significant progress at both of its operating divisions. We have emerged from the year as the travel services market's dominant leader in South China in terms of revenue.

Results

The Group delivered a double digit growth in top line performance in 2009 despite a number of external adverse conditions. Overall, Group revenue for 2009 reached RMB 1,909.1 million with a gross profit of RMB 211.4 million. Although the Group achieved only a modest 10% revenue improvement due to the reasons noted above, gross profits increased by 15% reflecting a higher gross profit margin of 11.07% compared to 10.61% in 2008. The overall operating loss has been reduced from RMB 64.4 million in 2008 to RMB 13.2 million, a reduction of 80%. Including finance costs, the total loss for the year has been reduced by 62% from RMB 83.9 million in 2008 to RMB 31.5 million in 2009.

GZL generated net revenue of RMB 1,859.0 million and a gross profit of RMB 182.6 million, representing an increase of approximately 9% and 10% respectively over the prior year. Its re-instated or normalized operating profit has increased by 24% to RMB 12.1 million over 2008. Net profit for the year (including the Grandbuy Department share disposal gain and other incomes) has increased from RMB 13.8 million to RMB 40.9 million in 2009. It is a solid performance by GZL, given its business was mostly affected by travel restriction under H1N1 and consumer confidence during the global financial crisis during the year under review. The split of travel destinations by revenue contribution remained broadly similar to that of 2008, being approximately 50% outbound with the balance represented by domestic, inbound and others although there was a continued reduction in the inbound segment which is now below 5% of overall revenue.

The wholly owned Et-china subsidiary, which is the Group's primary FIT (frequent independent traveler) and corporate traveler business, saw its revenue decrease by 32% to RMB 29 million but its gross profit increased by 37% to RMB 12.9 million. This is primarily due to the continuing refocus on FIT and direct customers away from the previous group package travel and wholesale air ticketing businesses. As a result, this subsidiary has seen its gross profit margin double from 22% to 44% in 2009. In 2009, Et-china has also undergone an integration exercise with the newly acquired online business of Beijing Yoee.com Limited. Although the combined business did not achieve the merged revenue target, it did achieve the cost reduction target by reducing overall operating cost by 40% in 2009. The adjusted or normalised operating loss was reduced by 70% to RMB 18.9 million from RMB 63.1 million in 2008. The loss after tax for the period was RMB 34.0 million, which is a 42% improvement on the loss of RMB 58.7 million in 2008.

The e-JV with China Southern Airlines, achieved a 43% increase in net revenues to RMB 47.2 million and 29% increase in gross profit to RMB 25.8 million. It has made a net profit of RMB 2.8 million, an increase of 62% over 2008. The result of the e-JV has been proportionately consolidated into the Group's consolidated financial statements by 49%.

Unfortunately in March of this year we identified a fraud which had been committed by an employee in GZL during the course of 2009. A provision of RMB 6.2 million has been made in the results to 31 December 2009. A number of actions including changes in financial management personnel have been taken to improve controls and ensure such an incident does not occur again.

At the end of 2009, the combined cash and cash equivalent in the Group was RMB 281.7 million (2008: RMB 185.3 million). The net cash position was RMB184.8 million (2008: RMB 147.1 million).

Key Events

The Company completed the acquisition of Beijing Yoee.com Limited in March 2009. The total consideration paid was RMB 5 million in cash and an issuance of 1,561,306 ETCI shares to Yooee.com founding management. This acquisition has established the Company's presence in Beijing and obtained a team of highly effective online travel executives. On 15th January 2010, Et-china launched a DIY or pure play online model in air booking and subsequently on 15th March 2010 a new model in hotel booking. The DIY model essentially saw the Company giving rebates to FIT customers completing their transaction online without significant interaction with customer services. This has made the Company's air and hotel offering more attractive in price but at the same time reducing service cost incurred by the Company due to the minimal customer service requirement. The Et-china management has seen booking growth in excess of 200% since the launch of this new model.

In June 2009, Kuoni Travel Holding Limited ("Kuoni"), one of the largest global leisure travel companies, acquired a 31.8% stake in the Company from an existing shareholder; Gandhara Master Fund Limited. In February 2010, Kuoni further increased its stake to 32.5% by buying shares from GSPAN Limited. At the same time, Kuoni also acquired the interest in the convertible bond which was owned by GSPAN. We believe that with Kuoni as a significant shareholder it will give us an opportunity to create a strategic alliance with an established global tour operator to capitalise on growth opportunities in our respective inbound and outbound businesses.

Outlook

The Chinese economy has managed to recover rather rapidly from the global financial crisis in 2009. It is going through a structural change shifting from an export-driven economy to a domestic consumption driven economy. With a GDP growth of 8.7% in 2009, the economy is expected to return to double-digit growth in 2010.

We believe the global financial crisis is finally behind us in China. 2010 will present tremendous opportunities to the Group due to the following factors:

1. The Chinese government has positioned the travel and tourism industry as a strategic pillar industry in its November 2009 Cabinet meeting. This is very encouraging as it would mean that substantial investments would be made by the government to stimulate growth in the industry. The government would also encourage more investments from private sector and foreign capital in the sector;

2. The Chinese government has actively promoting domestic consumption since 2009 and has made domestic travel a key area for such promotion; and

3. A number of international events in China should stimulate travel demand such as the Shanghai WorldExpo in May 2010 which will last for 6 months as well as the Asian Games in Guangzhou in 2010.

The management has seen promising sign in the first quarter of this year with the Company's unaudited revenue increasing by 21% to RMB 576 million. The Group has seen its EBITDA increased by 3.8 times to RMB 5.31 million. GZL has achieved record level of revenue in February 2010, reaching RMB 328 million thanks to a very robust trading during the Chinese New Year period. For the first quarter, GZL has seen its revenue growing by 22% to RMB 563 million and its EBITDA growing by 77% to RMB 13 million. The Company will continue to expand its business across China, while enhancing internal management and control to improve operating efficiency.

With the global financial crisis gradually coming to an end and China resuming its double digit growth, the Board can look forward to a better business environment with an increasing degree of confidence in 2010.

Matthew Ng

CEO, President and Interim Chairman

28 April 2010

Consolidated statement of financial position at 31 December 2009

Consolidated Statement of financial position at 31 December 2009 (continued)

Consolidated cash flow statement for the year ended 31 December 2009

Consolidated cash flow statement for the year ended 31 December 2009 (continued)