Online accommodation site Wotif.com Holdings Ltd is expecting its net profit after tax for the year ending 30 June 2008 to be in the vicinity of $A34.5 million ($US32.81 million).

Published: 25 Jun 2008

Online accommodation site Wotif.com Holdings Ltd is expecting its net profit after tax for the year ending 30 June 2008 to be in the vicinity of $A34.5 million ($US32.81 million).

This represents a circa 30% uplift on last year's reported net profit after tax of $26.4 million.

The result was based on internal unaudited management accounts to May and so the actual figure may change, the company said.

Wotif.com Chief Executive Officer Robbie Cooke reportedly said that the company was not affected by the slump in tourism and consumer confidence caused by high fuel prices and interest rates.

"Wotif.com offering is pretty much ideally suited to the sort of environment we're in at the moment," Cooke said. "We're focused on the end of the market where hotels have spare capacity and they are offering their best prices to consumers and [it is] very much geared around people taking spontaneous breaks. So that sort of holidaying pattern sits well when people have less money in their pockets but everybody still needs to have a break."

He added, "As things get tougher, you will see less long-haul trips and more people travelling domestically and perhaps travelling within a couple of hours of their home town. I think people will still take holidays but they will change the pattern a little bit."