Navigant International on Thursday announced $16.7 million in profit in fiscal year 2005, down from $18.9 million in 2004, as chairman and chief executive Ed Adams expressed relief that the troublesome year was over.
Navigant weathered accounting problems and travel disruptions from two major hurricanes in 2005. The financial review, a restatement of earnings and a Nasdaq relisting cost the company about $2.5 million.
“It’s very nice to have ’05 in the rearview mirror,” Adams said during an earnings conference call Thursday. “It was very distracting.”
Navigant’s revenues in the fiscal year ended Dec. 25 totaled $492 million, up from $451.4 million in 2004. Its 2005 earnings per share fell to 93 cents, from $1.06 the previous year.
For the fourth quarter of 2005, Navigant had net income of $2.4 million, or 15 cents a share, up from $2.1 million, or 13 cents, a year earlier. Revenues increased to $124.8 million in the quarter, from $123 million in the year-ago quarter.
Adams said he sees continuing strength in business travel and believes Navigant is competing well with online travel services. It plans to reduce call-center and other staffing costs as more customers convert to online tools.
“We have to make sure that we’re taking the cost out as those percentages creep up. That’s the challenge I throw at my team,” Adams said.
The company plans to use cash flow to pay down debt as interest rates rise.
Staff writer Kelly Yamanouchi can be reached at 303-820-1488 or kyamanouchi@denverpost.com.
