Lastminute.com doubles loss

Britain’s largest internet travel company Lastminute.com said its fourth-quarter loss more than doubled as costs for closing offices and cutting jobs exceeded forecasts. The shares plunged 22%, a record drop.

The net loss was €28.4m in the three months through September.

Lastminute.com, which hasn’t posted net income since its initial share sale in March 2000, is cutting 15% of the workforce and closing offices after 14 acquisitions in four years left the company with excess capacity.