Lastminute results fail to hit expectations

Online travel business lastminute.com saw its share price fall sharply today after admitting annual results had “fallen short” of expectations.

The company, which warned of challenging markets earlier this summer, said full-year underlying pre-tax profits came in at £4.6m (€6.5m) – higher than last year but lower than City forecasts of £7.9m (€11.2m).