Ebookers sees 'encouraging' signs

The company is trying to move more operations online

Online travel firm Ebookers has seen its shares soar after cutting its quarterly losses to £6.4m ($11.8m), from £6.9m in the same period in 2003.

The company said gross sales were up 15% to £136m during the three months to the end of June.

"These are encouraging results in our seasonally weaker quarter," said Michael Healy, company finance officer.

Its shares put on 14%, up 17.5 pence to 140 pence, as investors welcomed the news.

Ebookers lost nearly a third of its market value in July after it warned its 2004 profit forecasts would be at the very lowest end of expectations.

The firm has expanded rapidly in recent years, helped by a policy of buying up other travel firms and moving sales onto the internet.

However, there has been criticism from some analysts that the company still has too many fixed assets.

The company said it had continued to close down less profitable parts of its offline business, and since the start of the year had sold or shut nine retail outlets in the UK and Holland.

Ebookers said there had been a slow travel market for long and mid-haul travel in June due to the Euro 2004 football championships in Portugal.