Lastminute posts improved losses

Lastminute.com has posted Q3 losses of £9.3 million - an £1.7 million improvement on the same period last year. Total transaction value is up 17-fold, compared to the same period last year, and the company has £117 million in cash stashed away in the bank. Registered users across Europe nudged above the two million mark.

No one was available to comment on reports that Lastminute.com has delayed the launch of its new Web site due to technical problems. Co-founder, Martha Lane Fox, chatted to the BBC’s Radio 4 Today programme this morning, revealing users could admire the new site but not use it yet.

Bigsave.com has backed off from its planned flotation, which would have valued the online department store at £300 million. Poor market conditions have been blamed for the postponement. Bigsave has raised £14.7 million in private funding from backers including Equitable Life and Friends Provident,and said it hopes to be in the black by 2002.

Former building society Woolwich reported profits down 8.4 per cent to £232 million. This equates to £30 million, which, fortunately, was just the amount Woolwich has invested in its Internet banking scheme Open Plan. Open Plan is intended to be an all-in-one service where customers can use phones, branches and the Internet to access their accounts.

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