Not vested. I've used their service though. Not too reliable during peak periods. But how many people travel during off-peak periods ?
==================================
From Kim Eng:-
Asiatravel 1HFY08 results (Johnny TEO, DID: 64321431)
Previous Day Closing price: $0.52
Recommendation: Buy (maintained)
Target price: $0.79 (maintained)
Results in line with expectations despite slight hiccup in March
AsiaTravel’s (AST) net profit grew by 38.1% Y/Y to $3m (46% of our full-year estimates) on the back of a Y/Y growth of 30% in revenue to $44m for 1HFY08. This was largely due to the increased hotel room reservations and the maiden 6-month contributions from air tickets bookings. Its gross margin declined by around 1 full ppt Y/Y which is, on the contrary, positive for AST. (Refer to our initiating coverage for the explanation).
Deepen its regional flight departure footprint
AST is slated to increase the number of departure points from Asia on top of Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Hong Kong, China, Philippines and UAE. Following this, AST will start its launchpad for flights departing from the US, Europe and Australia into Singapore. This will increase the number of hotel bookings as travelers who concurrently search and book flights and hotels can have more varied choices.
More shifting from off-line to on-line channel
Though Mar 08 reported a low Y/Y growth of 12% in room nights, its overall 2QFY08 still grew strongly at 23% (better than the 17% Y/Y of 2QFY07). The low growth is due primarily to flu in Hong Kong and the traffic congestion at the causeway linking Singapore and Malaysia (due to the Mas Selamat incident). However, its growth has been back on track, as AST has already seen a growth rate of 29% Y/Y in the first two weeks of April.
Dual core engine reving fast forward
AST saw good maiden contribution from its air tickets sales in 1HFY08. Together with hotel reservation, this dual engine is expected to catalyze the forward earnings. Riding on this simultaneous surge in dual engine, we are confident in AST for achieving our full year FY08 net profit forecast of $6.5m.
This is notwithstanding the additional traffic-flow when the full one-stop instant confirmation booking engine (includes other travel products such as travel insurance, cruise, golf and tour packages) comes online by end of FY08.
Dirt cheap compared to Ctrip
We continue to promote Asiatravel as an M&A target within the radar screen of interested parties in the online travel space. We feel that AST is cruising on fast track towards the likes of Ctrip, a mainly domestic player in the PRC who currently commands a premium valuation of 35.8x FY09F PER. DPS of 0.9 cents is proposed for 1HFY08 (0.55 cents in 1HFY07). We roll over our forecast and maintain our SOTP target price of $0.79. This puts AST at only 14.4x FY09PER. Maintain BUY