Travelport's Bet on a Commercial Payments Business Begins to Pay Off
Skift Take
While Travelport is best known as a middleman for selling airplane tickets, its fastest-growing segment is in commercial payments. While payments competitors like Wex and Worldpay don't have to worry yet, they may have to soon.
Travelport enjoyed a stronger-than-expected first quarter, thanks to a strong performance in its core business as a middleman that helps agencies book travel for customers.
But the travel technology company also processes payments for agencies through a majority-owned subsidiary, eNett, the fastest-growing section of Travelport's business.
In the first quarter of 2017, eNett saw net revenue growth of 22 percent, to $41 million.
While those numbers are small, they are more impressive when considered against Travelport's net income for the quarter, which was $55 million. The growth — with net revenue up 64 percent in 2016 — is notably organic, meaning Travelport hasn't bought anything that would supplement the numbers.
The grow
