Pre-tax losses fell to £1.1m from £1.6m last time as the total transaction value shot up 68.3% to £146.6m following the acquisition of Med Hotels and First Option Hotel, which were both completed this quarter.
said the total number of items sold increased by 71.9% year on year and gross profits rose 120.8% to £25m from £11.3m in the first quarter of 2003.
Allan Leighton, chairman of Lastminute, said: "The group has continued to make significant progress in what is our seasonally weakest quarter. We expect to see sustained improvements throughout our business as we move forward during the remainder of the financial year. The acquisition pipeline remains strong and we anticipate further activity during the coming months."
Lastminute said the recent acquisitions have substantially strengthened its hotels offering, which in turn is driving gross margins.
Chief executive Brent Hoberman added: "Technology continues to remain a focus for our group in order to retain our competitive leadership and provide an ever improving experience for our customers and partners."
Lastminute's shares rose as high as 221.75p, up 7.13%, but still a long way off of its 52-week high of 318p. The travel site's shares have continued to underperform the general retailers index by around 24% in the last six months.
If you have an opinion on this or any other issue raised on Brand Republic, join the debate in the .