Wotif Holdings Limited, operator of online travel brands in the Asia Pacific region, received an award from Forbes Asia for being one of the ‘Best Under A Billion' companies on its 2009 shortlist.

Awarded every year, Forbes Asia's ‘Best Under A Billion' list recognises the best small to medium-sized listed companies in Asia Pacific under $1 billion in annual revenue, which have consistently grown and given the best rewards to their shareholders. This year, Wotif Group is the only international online travel organisation selected for the list.

"I am absolutely thrilled that the Wotif.com received this award from Forbes Asia, which recognises our remarkable successes in the past year," said Robbie Cooke, Group CEO and Managing Director. (right)

"Notwithstanding the economic headwinds of the last year and many travel businesses not weathering the storm so well, our business model has demonstrated that it performs strongly both in boom times and in down cycles," he said.
Over the past financial year the Wotif Group has seen revenue grow by a third to AUD$121 million, a 24% lift in earnings per share and a 17% increase in dividends. The Company expects, based on current strong performance, net profit for the first half of 2010 to be in the vicinity of AUD$26 million.

"This past financial year has been a period of intense activity for the Wotif team. We have seen a number of milestones including an extension of the Wotif.com booking window from 28 days to three months, the launch of a mobile platform, and an increase in the number of room nights sold in Asia by 100%," said Robbie.

"We are seeing positive signs of recovery in the travel industry and are cautiously confident that our business will grow from strength to strength in the coming year - and make us a strong candidate for next year's Best Under A Billion list!" he added.

4Hoteliers was the "Official Daily News" of WIT09 - www.webintravel.com

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