Orbis Q1 results - nothing to boast about

Tour operator Orbis announced its Q1 2003 results, which saw a net loss of zł. 8.5 million on revenues of zł. 111 million. The figures were reasonably well received by the market, as experts stress the importance of the company's cost-cutting policy and the first quarter is always a bad period for tourist companies and hotels. However, the drop in sales revenues disturbed them, as these fell by 12.3% in comparison to Q1 2002. "The net result was better than forecasted by us and expected by the market. An additional zł. 2 million were generated mostly due to financial operations," said DB Securities analyst Krzysztof Kaczmarczyk. Orbis managed to lower its costs thanks partially to restructuring its employment. "The biggest advantage of the company is the fact that it is holding to its costs cutting policy, but the results should be evaluated negatively. The drop in revenues is especially bad in terms of the strong Euro, which is the settling currency for Orbis," said DM Millenium Andrzej Szymański. (Parkiet, p. 3) M.M.