ETC.L Regulatory News (ETC)

21 Oct 2009 09:15



ET-CHINA.COM INTERNATIONAL HOLDINGS LIMITED

("Et-china", "the Group" or "the Company")

SALES SHINE AT GZL OVER GOLDEN WEEK HOLIDAY PERIOD 

Et-china, a leading travel services group in the fast growing region of South China, announces record trading at GZL, the Group's package tour provider, during the recent Golden Week holiday which ran from 1 to 8 October. Each year there are 2 Golden Week holiday's, the first around the Chinese New Year in January / February and the second around National Day on 1st October which this year included an extra day to mark the 60th anniversary of the People's Republic.

Over the holiday period approximately 59,000 customers travelled with GZL, an increase of 22.7% over the corresponding period, generating total sales revenue of RMB78.3m (£7.0m) an increase of approximately 124%.

Strongest growth came from sales of short-haul tours which increased 315% to RMB 18.6m (£1.7m)

A total of 2,011 customers purchased long-haul tours generating revenues of RMB15.9m (£1.4m) an increase of 189%

Growth in domestic tours saw revenues increase 107% to RMB40.5m (£3.6m), customers increased by approximately 81% to 43,840

Revenue from tours to Hong Kong and Macau increased 59% to RMB3.2m (£0.3m), as travel restrictions were eased

Matthew Ng, President and Chief Executive Officer, commented: 

"We are delighted by these exceptional sales figures from GZL which have been driven by a significant increase in long and short-haul customers taking advantage of the extended Golden Week holiday.

"The Board is greatly encouraged by these figures which continue to illustrate the attractiveness of the Chinese travel sector and we remain optimistic that the Group will see an improved performance in the second half and into 2010, when we expect volumes to increase surrounding the Shanghai World Expo and the Guangzhou Asian Games.

"Chinese consumers are showing signs of confidence again which should manifest itself in a resumption of large numbers of people travelling. The Group is committed to growing the business and continuing to drive revenue growth and reducing losses".

The Company will release a detailed trading update in due course.

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£ STG / RMB exchange rate 11.1591 as at 16 October 2009