lastminute.com N.V. (LMN) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the lastminute.com Full Year 2023 Results Conference Call and Live Webcast. I am Sandra, the Chorus Call operator. [Operator Instructions] And the conference is being recorded. [Operator Instructions] The conference must not be recorded for publication or broadcast. At this time, it's my pleasure to hand over to Martin Meier-Pfister, Investor Relations Manager. Please go ahead, sir.

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining the call today. The speakers, as you see on Slide #2, are Luca Concone and Sergio Signoretti. They will lead you through both the presentation and the Q&A today. As for the Q&A, let me just reiterate what the Chorus Call operator said, that you need to write your questions in the field that is next to the slides on the webcast system. And so please keep that in mind, you can enter the questions during the presentation already, and we move on to then the Q&A. With that, let me hand over to Luca for the presentation, please.

Good morning, everyone. First of all, thank you for making the time to join us here today. We have, as you can see on the screen, a very quick agenda. I'm going to do the intro and highlights. Sergio Signoretti will discuss with us the full year 2023 results, and then I'll get it again in terms of current trading and guidance. All of this will lead to the Q&A session that, as Martin has illustrated, is going to be via typing questions on the system. Let's start immediately with the intro and highlights. So first of all, where are we in terms of market? In terms of market, the flight level is still below 2019. 2019 is our benchmark in terms of year before COVID, of course. We were expecting to recover in full. As you can see, 2023 has been growing from January to October, but then it was a bit of a softer start. So we are not yet back there. In terms of strategic highlights, we still focused on Dynamic Package business. Those of you who followed us in our previous call, remember that we have decided to limit our efforts in the flight business, especially removing those less profitable flights and really focus on Dynamic Package business. So we very happily concluded the year 41% above 2022 in terms of revenues and 45% in terms of cost profit. I'm talking of Dynamic Packages. We added 11 new markets. Now we're selling 30 markets. We have 9 licenses, and we operate in 30 markets. EBITDA has been modified in order to be easily more comparable with other players like Odigeo, Booking.com, Expedia, et cetera. So now our EBITDA adjusted is the same as their EBITDA adjusted. And I know that this has been a very welcome change. And we also split up our business in B2B and B2C, with B2C being the more important part, 60%, but B2B remaining extremely relevant with 40% of the business. In the first 6 months of the year, we had a negative cancellation impact. We generated extra revenues, offsetting cancellation in the second part of the year with a new product and new pricing. So this is again something I'm very proud of. We also, during the course of the year, strengthen the leadership team. As some of you may remember, in August of last year, Sergio Signoretti announced that he was stepping down and getting new challenges in his professional career. Today, I'm very proud to announce that Diego Fiorentini is joining us as new the Chief Financial Officer. Actually, I will let Diego introduce himself briefly.

Okay. Thank you, Luca. I'm happy to be here. And after spending many years in public listed companies, I've been working in the last 10 years as an interim and fractional CFO. And, yes, glad to be here and looking forward to work with you.

So from the next call, it will be Diego replacing Sergio for all the CFO aspect. Of course, we reinforced the team with other high-quality additions like a Chief Marketing Officer, our Chief People Officer, and also some special projects, which will help us keep on growing in the coming years. We, for the first time, are publishing a sustainability report. Last year, we had the section of the sustainability report inside the year-end report. This year, it's a separate document, which is worth your time reading. This is, a, because now we align perfectly with Swiss regulation; but b, because the company believes in its environmental, social and governance duties. And as you will see from the report, we have focused a lot of effort. We have hired a personnel just to make sure that we stay on the right path for all our ESG units. Before handing over to Sergio Signoretti, very quick overview. We have grown in terms of Gross Travel Value. This is the amount of money that we intermediate between suppliers like airlines, hotels, cruise lines and our clients. It's grown 5%. Specifically, Dynamic Packages has grown 43%. We have reduced flights, as I've mentioned before, because we cut out less or least profitable part of flights, 17% reduction, overall 5% reduction. This brought with it a 6% revenue growth and more importantly, a 28% adjusted EBITDA growth. This is the new adjusted EBITDA, the one that includes voucher and cancellation. This shows you with a 6% revenue, 28% EBITDA that we have improved our operating leverage in a significant way. Net income for market reasons, 2020, 2021 and 2022, we posted losses because COVID clearly killed our industry. For the first time now, we post a profit, which is a net result of EUR 7 million. Sergio will then illustrate how we go from our EBITDA to our profit. But I'm very happy to say that after 3 years of losses, finally, we are back in black as the [ AC/DC ] used to say. Our net financial position has improved of EUR 15.6 million prior of the repayment of government subsidy. So in terms of business, and again, Sergio has a slide to detail that. In terms of business, we created cash. We have improved our financial position. We have a one-off hit of EUR 29.5 million. So the overall net financial position has decreased, but just because of this one-off cost. Now I'll let the microphone to Sergio.

Thank you very much, Luca. Good morning, good morning, all. Pleased to meet you again for this 2023 final results, audited results investor call. So as Luca was anticipating, I'm switching to Slide 11. There are a couple of introductory comments that maybe is useful to repeat, consistently what we already presented in the past. So again, we have introduced in order to ensure more transparency in understanding our numbers the concept of -- a broader concept of adjusted EBITDA. This is something we introduced in the second half of 2023. So all the economical effects related to cancellations, which is a structural phenomenon of the travel business, are now included into adjusted EBITDA. So all the numbers that you will see are compare like-for-like. So we have restated, of course, also the numbers of previous years in order to make it fully comparable -- first of all. Second thing is the representation of our business through a more holistic view. So B2C and B2B, where in the B2C, as you will read also more extensively in the annual report that we have uploaded on our corporate website this morning, we represent the performance of the main categories of the online travel agency business. And when we refer to Dynamic Packages, we refer to the piece of Dynamic Packages that we sell on our own properties. As you know, we also do white label services for Dynamic Packages business, which we represent within the B2B slice of the pie. In the B2B part, we also include the economical performance of the meta business, the media business and of one business, which is keeping on growing very much, we will see the results afterwards, which is the partnership business, when essentially, we identify partners of non-travel and we sell to them the possibility of [indiscernible] travel content to their own customer base. That's a part of the business which is growing very well. Now following what Luca was saying, I would go to Slide #12, which represents the overall revenues and gross profit of the group comparing 2023 versus 2022. As you will notice, the numbers are substantially in line with what we had already anticipated on the 7th of February. So there have been no significant deviations. Out of that, we have closed 2023 with EUR 321 million revenues versus EUR 302 million in 2022. So with a plus 6% increase. I would say, more importantly, if we break up the overall revenue pie between the Dynamic Packages business and all the rest that we sell, you see the Dynamic Packages business in 2023 represents approximately 46% of overall revenues and has grown 41% year-on-year. It was representing 35% in 2022. So again, this represents the results of the effort of the company in developing the most interesting slice of the travel business in our view, and the one that is growing more in terms of also opportunity and potential. If you look at gross profit. Gross profit overall in 2023 has been EUR 126 million versus EUR 105 million in 2022. So from here, you can see that the focus on profitable growth is there in the sense that we are growing at gross profit level more than what we are growing at revenue level. Remember, our definition of core profit is the overall revenues that we registered minus all the variable costs that the company bears and which are mostly related to the Gross Travel Value that we process. We have been capable in 2023 to substantially maintain the overall variable cost base in line with previous year. Therefore, despite a 5% increase in Gross Travel Value and therefore generating efficiencies. Also, if you look at the Dynamic Packages portion at gross profit level, the Dynamic Packages have increased 45%, as Luca was anticipating in terms of gross profit year-on-year. Now looking at the presentation, going to Page 13 of the business of the same revenues and gross profit in terms of B2C and B2B, you see that at the B2B side, the B2B pie have driven the top line increase in terms of revenues with a plus 18% increase year-on-year. But if we move to the profitability part, the B2C in terms of absolute numbers, average is EUR 14 million of increase year-on-year, which is a plus 22% despite the top line was substantially stable year-on-year. And this is again driven by the fact that we have kept our overall variable cost base, and in particular, the marketing spend substantially stable, if not lower versus last year. So we have been significantly more efficient despite the growth of the business. And in fact, you see the overall marketing spend on percentage terms versus revenues has gone from 43% incidence to a 39% incidence in 2023. And that is substantially all related to the B2C part. So thanks to the efficient marketing spend we have achieved on top of the mix effect, the increase in gross profit that is represented in this slide. In terms of overall fixed cost base, so this is everything which is below gross profit prior to EBITDA adjusted, we are keeping on investing in the organization. We have registered EUR 60 million of net HR cost, net of capitalizations, versus EUR 48 million of the previous year, which is a 24% increase. That is mainly driven by the average account increase. As you may remember, we have invested quite heavily in reinforcing our tech organization, hiring more than 130 people, software engineers, developers and even senior -- more senior roles in our tech organization that is fully reflected into these numbers and is consistent with our make strategy in order to improve the customer experience on the website. In terms of operating expenses or renting cost, which are represented on the right side of the slide, we have closed 2023 with EUR 29 million versus EUR 25 million, which is a plus 14% increase, mostly driven also in this case by the tech operating cost increase. Despite the fact that we have kept on investing in our fixed cost base, if you look at Slide 15, and you look in particular at the bottom line of the slide, where we report the adjusted EBITDA, we are growing 28% year-on-year in terms of adjusted EBITDA. So EUR 40 million versus EUR 31 million. Improving our operating leverage, improving our marginality also in percentage terms from 10% to 12% year-on-year. And beating the guidance because the guidance that we gave when we presented the Q3 results in the last November was in the region of approximately 25%. So we have slightly beaten that. And as Luca was anticipating, if we move to Page 16, we are finally back to net income. Finally back to net income after 2 years of COVID and after 2022, which was impacted in terms of economic results by the provision that we posted for the entire cost related to the investigation that we had in Switzerland in the second half of 2022. And therefore, last year, we lost EUR 15 million. As you may remember, there was a provision of EUR 35 million, which was posted at IFRS EBITDA level. So there are a couple of significant difference here on top of the adjusted EBITDA line, which is again plus 28% year-on-year. If you look at IFRS EBITDA, we are almost 8x higher than last year, and that is essentially driven by the accrual for the provision of the investigation that we did in 2022. Just a comment on the EUR 8 million that are the difference between the performance of the business, which will represent in the adjusted EBITDA and the IFRS EBITDA, which is consistent -- the reported one consistent with international accounting standard. So the EUR 8 million are for EUR 3 million noncash costs, which are related to the revaluation of the liability towards employees for the long-term incentive plans. This is consistent with the accounting standard and is impacting EUR 43 million. EUR 5 million is a bunch of costs related to consultancies not related to the business, and most in that restructuring cost that we have occurred in 2023. So the IFRS EBITDA is actually EUR 32 million, again, versus EUR 5 million of last year. But most importantly, this drives, after 3 years of losses, to a final bottom line, which is positive of EUR 7 million versus the minus EUR 15 million of 2022. Now moving to Page 17. Page 17 represents a bridge of our gross cash. Gross cash is, of course, what we have in our bank account. If you look at what we were having, the level of gross cash at the end of 2022 was EUR 118 million. And if you compare with the green bar, the gross cash as of the end of 2023, excluding and prior to consider the repayment of the subsidies due to the Swiss state, that was the biggest chunk of what we have we accrued in 2022. We close the year with EUR 129 million. That means that there are EUR 11 million of gross cash generation prior to consider the repayment, out of which approximately EUR 20 million, if you look at the first box on the left, is generated by the business, considering the IFRS EBITDA and a slightly negative net working capital for EUR 11 million. So that's a quite strong message. Of course, if we consider the repayment of government subsidies, the -- we had an absorption of EUR 18 million, which is the difference between the EUR 118 million at the beginning of the slide and the EUR 100 million of gross cash as of the end of 2023, which is also reported in Slide 18. If you focus in particular on the last line, the line -- EUR 18 million is the actual hard cash, which is exactly corresponding to the difference between the EUR 118 million as of the end of 2022 and the EUR 100 million as of the end of 2023. This is explaining in a more, I would say, structured and accounting way, which is all the cash flow movements. But I would say the main concepts are those that I reported already. So having said that, Luca, would switch it over to you again.

Yes. Thank you.

In order to comment the current trading and the guidance.

Thank you, Sergio. Okay. So Sergio just concluded our analysis of 2023 versus 2022. As you've seen, the company has grown. Even though it was reorganizing and the restructuring, we have repaid our debt as it was foreseen, including all our COVID loans. We have reimbursed SECO for EUR 29.5 million. So the company has absorbed all of this extraordinary situation pretty well and is in a very healthy and strong position, both financially and operationally. Now how did we start this year? As you know or as you should know, Ryanair at the back end of last year, from second half of November onwards, has decided to implement a new policy to prevent online travel agents like ourselves to sell their tickets. Now Ryanair is a very relevant airline. This year, we transported 200 million passengers in Europe, on some routes is definitely the dominating airline. And preventing, not just lastminute, preventing everyone from selling tickets, has had a big impact on the overall industry. Now we are working to sort it out. I have a slide later just with a bit more detail. But in terms of impact, our Gross Travel Value is 30% less than quarter 1 of 2023. What's remarkable is our Dynamic Packages have not suffered. So we compensated the lack of Ryanair flights with other initiatives. But the flights themselves, what we call flight-only, that just resell tickets simply not having any inventory in Ryanair flight makes it impossible to sell them. And so hence, our reduction. The revenue have suffered consequently by a 12% reduction, which again is good if you compare to the 30% reduction in GTV, with DP revenues growing remarkably positive 4%. Gross profit overall has grown 4%, even with a 12% revenue because me and Sergio with the support of all the senior management has managed to do a squeezing costs in order to have gross profit growth. And adjusted EBITDA is in line with quarter 1 of last year. So anything to write home about, definitely no. But the company has shown once more its resilience in being able to maintain a good EBITDA level, gross profit even in the absence of Ryanair product. Now Ryanair, as I was saying, has been denying access to its ticket inventory. There are numerous legal rulings in our favor against Ryanair, not just promoted by us, actually, these legal rulings, but by the associations, both in the U.K., in Italy and in other countries. Clearly, there has been an industry reaction. At the same time, many players in the industry are trying to find a solution directly with Ryanair. Let's say that lastminute, being one of the large players, is monitoring the situation very closely, and we will find a solution because we can't stay like this, either from a technical standpoint, from a legal standpoint, from a contractual standpoint. What I can reassure you is that this is one of our key priorities, and we will sort things out with Ryanair one way or another. Even in this difficult, let's say, situation this year, we will grow revenues between 5% and 10%. I remind everyone, it's minus 12% for the first quarter. So it means we claw back the minus 12% and we keep on growing. And our adjusted EBITDA, which was flat in the first quarter, is going to grow a minimum of 20%. Now this is a commitment that I'm taking on behalf of all the senior management of the company. With and without Ryanair agreement or whatever industry solution comes up, we will deliver these numbers, 5% to 10% revenue and a minimum of 20% adjusted EBITDA growth. Our strategy, as Sergio mentioned, we focus on profitable growth. So we let go of marginal or money losing parts of the business. We still keep the focus on Dynamic Packages. We want to consolidate our leadership. We have a big technological advantage, and we want to leverage it and possibly enter in new markets. We need to expand our synergy portfolio. We've been working with new suppliers in order to be able to offer additional services to all our buyers, both of Dynamic Package, but also of flight-only. We are going to introduce a new deferred payment option. We are leaders also in innovation in this industry, especially on the payment side. And we will be leaders also this year with this new deferred payment option, which you will find out whenever you will buy from us. We clearly focus on the mobile app. We've been rethinking our technological platform, mainly with a first approach to all our new development, and that will become a key instrument to retain and reactivate customers. Repeat buyers are a key element of our app strategy. And overall, we have internalized in 2022, and we are now leveraging in 2023 and onwards the customer care part of the business. Out of 1,700 employees, over 600 are employed in customer care. So we want to make that an advantage. And definitely, we aim to be absolutely best-in-class. I think that concludes the presentation part. Let me just mention briefly the financial calendar. Today's the 4th of April. On the 15th of May, we are going to publish our Q1 trading update. But more importantly, for all of you who are connected, on the 5th of June, we had the Capital Markets Day. We're going to be in Zurich in person for whoever wants to show up. But of course, we will webcast it. And you can also connect on that occasion, we will go into more detail of our strategy and our results and probably, very probably an update on the Ryanair overall situation. With that, I conclude and hand over to Martin, who is dealing with the Q&A.

Thank you, Luca. And I reiterate the intro I made regarding Q&A. [Operator Instructions] And let me also say that we bundle some of the questions that we have received. There are a number which are similar that came already in. So the question might be phrased somewhat different to what you asked specifically, but the context is the same. And let me start with the first question for Luca. It is regarding the guidance. In the press release in November, you guided to an EBITDA '24 hitting '19 levels, which implies EUR 60 million, and now it is approximately EUR 48 million. So what is the difference of the EUR 12 million? Is this about Ryanair? And if an agreement can be reached with Ryanair, what is the EBITDA improvement to you, which you do anticipate? Luca, please?

Yes. So first of all, in principle, we are still optimistic and see growth in our DP business. As I've shown you, even without Ryanair product, our DP business is growing. And the 2 reasons why we are more conservative than early in November is, first of all, the size of the market, the growth of the market actually has not materialized, in quarter 1 was somehow subdued compared to 2019, while our expectation was that the market in terms of volume would grow beyond 2019. And clearly, second reason is Ryanair. Ryanair, as I mentioned before, we are working to resolve this situation. Please don't ask me a specific number on Ryanair because the impact is multifaceted, and it's not an information we are willing to share. If we resolve the situation with Ryanair or better, whatever way we resolve the situation with Ryanair, there is an upside to the guidance that I have given you today. So the 20% minimum growth, I still believe is a considerable result on the back of 30% of last year. And that is something that could be revised upwards once we know with Ryanair what happens.

Thank you, Luca. And next question is also about Ryanair. But before that, let me also answer the question we received, what happens with the guidance if there is no agreement with Ryanair? The answer is the guidance is as we published it today, that it's based on the assumption there is no agreement with Ryanair even if the company is broken. Next question again for Luca. So can you still be a bit more specific about the impact of Ryanair? How exactly does it impact your business?

So let's say that directly or indirectly, we have a relationship with over 400 airlines, okay? Now Ryanair is one of the top 3, given our market and given their market. So clearly, it's an important one. The impact of the lack of Ryanair products is more significant for our P&L in the Dynamic Package business because the value of each Dynamic Package is definitely having the contribution to bottom line is definitely higher. We are implementing corrective actions to protect our profitability. Clearly, this has an impact also on our investment and cost side. That said, I'm confident we will sort it out, as I mentioned before, either with a different technological setup or thanks to the outcome of all the authorities who are looking into Ryanair's behavior or with an agreement, which we hope to be fair and balanced in terms of terms. Now I was expecting a bunch of questions on Ryanair. But I'm asking Martin, is there anything non-Ryanair-related which we talk about?

There is one more on Ryanair, and then we'll move to other topics, which is are you currently discussing agreement? And is there a reason why lastminute has not reached an agreement yet with Ryanair while some other OTAs have already done so?

So my answer is leading edge is bleeding edge, usually. So we definitely were not rushing to sign anything Ryanair was putting in our face like some other companies did. And we need to operate in order to maximize return for lastminute. So we will keep on negotiating with Ryanair. If the terms of the deal are fair, lawful and balanced, for sure, we are willing to sign an agreement, but not at all costs.

Okay. So let's move to different questions unrelated to Ryanair. Your full year guidance suggests a catch-up in the next quarters. What are the drivers for that?

So first of all, as you know, our more relevant quarters are quarter 2 and quarter 3. We're a bit -- the business is a bit weak in quarter 1 and quarter 4. And we are now working on a number of initiatives, the ancillaries that I mentioned, the app, different pricing models in order to be able to be ready for peak season to catch up with revenues and growth of EBITDA. We are also, we have hired and we are deploying additional resources in our B2B business in order to grow more partnerships. And as you know, those sales cycles are very long, 6 to 12 months to sign up a new partner. Once you have the partner, then it's a long-term contract. So we are going to focus on DP, on Dynamic Packages, as we have said before, but with additional ancillaries, more focus on app, better development in B2B. The market is coming up, better pricing models. Definitely, we are going to catch up and reach the minimum 20% also this year.

Thank you. Then we have a question on buyback or dividend. Given that you have excess cash and your share price is low. Why do you knock around such a move?

So we focus on organic growth. And we are examining all possible avenues in order to return some cash to shareholders. This is not my decision, it's the Board decisions, and I think something will happen shortly.

Next question is for Sergio. The technical one, Jan report discloses that the company paid EUR 800,000 for 1.6% each [indiscernible] and jet costs while valuing those businesses at EUR 50 million above book value. Can you please explain why the price paid was so high and confirm what are the counterparties for the members of the management team? Sergio, please?

Yes. Thank you for the question. First of all, counterparties were minority shareholder. They were not part in any manner of the lastminute.com management team. Second, the price has been calculated based on the fair value of the net assets of the business, exactly in line with arm's length principle. What Luca was stating about the reinforcement of the strategy on the app is valid also for the Metasearch business. So we are strongly developing the utilization of the app also for the Metasearch business, and this is driving increase of profitability because also in that terms, the marketing spend will be more efficient. And so of course, this is reflected in the numbers actual and projected of the meta business, therefore, generated incremental value.

Thank you. And there is another question for Sergio on Cash. What portion of gross cash is company cash versus customer cash?

Okay. So thank you also for this question. It's not the first time. I think better to reiterate. So when we speak about customer cash, again, we need to enter into the DP business, okay? The DP business is regulated, as you know. And the definition of the -- if the objective of the question is to understand if we have any restricted cash related to the Dynamic Packages business? The answer is no. So we do not have any restricted cash there. But of course, we need to comply with what are the rules set by the various regulators in the various markets when we offer there any packages. In particular, there is one regulator, which is different from the other, which is the U.K. regulator, which ask us to have in a specific bank account, the value of the customer cash related to the U.K. business for the Dynamic Packages. So -- which is the money corresponding to the future departure to the payables related to future departures for Dynamic Packages. This amount approximately to 30% to the overall gross cash, as I already mentioned, I think, a number of times in the previous investor calls. Related to the other markets where we sell the Dynamic Packages, we do not have any requirement of this manner, though we are bounded. So we have guarantees in place, which reassure the regulators in order to be fully capable to fulfill the obligation to our suppliers. I hope that clarifies the matter.

Okay. Thank you. Next question. So Luca again about Summer Olympics in Paris. This event usually attracts a lot of tourists. Do you see an increase in the number of flights or hotel bookings for this event? Luca?

Yes. So first of all, the airlines, of course, decide the number of flights. And until now, we have not seen any significant change in airline schedule with destination Paris. I'm sure it will show up later, but not for the time being. We do not have specific Olympic-related deals. The prices are climbing and of course, will become even much higher. We've seen a little bit increase of average booking value compared to last year, but there is not anything particularly significant that we think will impact the full year results.

Okay. Then we have 2 questions again about Ryanair.

Oh, yes. Thank you.

And does this issue mean that you are currently offering less attractive package deals to your customers? Does this mean that your current price attractiveness of your DP business is suffering? So that's the first one. Luca, please?

So we are offering different airlines where we can. So where we are covering routes that are not only covered by Ryanair in their dominating position. This means that more than less price attractive, they show up a little less margin on our end. But I wouldn't say in any way that our DP business is suffering too much because as you have seen, it has been growing compared to the same period of last year.

Okay. And the other one was Ryanair is, are there any indications that other airlines who follow Ryanair in preventing access to their flights?

So for the time being, the answer is a straight no. Ryanair is in a very unique position of being a dominating force. So they can impose their decisions on the market. No other airline is so strong. And most other airlines already in the past, I give you easyJet as an example, have decided to cooperate with key players in the market like online travel agents who add a lot of value to the customer. And easyJet understood this, created a computer interface, an API for OTAs that they can use it to then resettle the product typically, a package, but also flight-only for our customers. So Ryanair is definitely an outlier.

Okay. And we have 1 last question. And with that, let me say, if there are no more incoming within the next 1 minute, we will close the call. But 1 last question is, in your outlook, you speak about a subdued market trend. What does that mean exactly? What is your expectation for the market in the rest of the year?

So first of all, it's never our expectation. It's the industry's expectation. IATA, [ EUROCONTROL ], you name it, the various sources that give forecast of passenger traffic. And typically, it's a forecast for flights rather than for hotels. The forecast was to begin with growth in quarter 1, always compared to 2019, this is -- remember, 2019 is the benchmark towards which we compare and contrast. In reality, quarter 1 has been lower than 2019. Now the forecast done by the industry specialists is that we will grow back another 1% to 3% during the year. So depending to whom you ask for Europe, the expectation is that the second part of the year will reach 2019 level.

Okay. Thank you. That now has been the last question. So let me close the call. Thank you for your participation. If you feel that something was left unanswered, just drop the IoT e-mail, please. And with that, I hand over to Luca for any last worlds. Luca, please?

Yes. So first of all, I would like to thank you for your continued support. We know that some of you have been with us for years and especially stuck with us during the COVID period as our investors, and that has been deeply appreciated. We hope you are satisfied with how we are repaying your trust and your confidence with 2023 numbers, which are definitely a big step in the right direction and stay with us for 2024 and onwards. By the next call, we will come to you with our solution on Ryanair. And you will see that additional growth is definitely in the cards for lastminute.com. I would like to use this occasion to put out a special heartfelt thanks to Sergio Signoretti, who's been 6 years with us as the CFO, who has dealt with all your calls and all your questions during the hard part of COVID, but before and after. And so Sergio, if you want to close the call, actually, if you would...

Thank you very much, Luca. It has been a pleasure to work and to support -- try to support all of you, also in more difficult times than this one. So it has been really, really a great pleasure. I look forward that we have a chance of cooperating together in other forms. So again, thank you, Luca, and thanks to all of you.

Thank you, Sergio. Bye to everyone.

Ladies and gentlemen, the conference is now over. Thank you for using Chorus Call and thank you for participating in the conference. You may now disconnect your lines. Goodbye.