Egg and Ebookers defy dotbomb clichŽ

Posted on 23 Apr 2001 at 16:54

Despite many glitches and a still ropey tech market, online bank Egg is showing strong growth.

The firm, an offshoot of the Prudential bank, floated in June 2000, increased its customer base by sixty per cent in the last year as the Egg credit card became increasingly popular. It now has 1.57m customers on its books although the company's still making a loss. That loss was reduced from £38.3m a year ago to £37.9m.

Egg has had a controversial two-year history, with problems with security denting customer confidence in the early days. Despite that, it's attractive rate of interest and easy-to-use site has kept the business coming in. The bank expects to break even at the end of this year.

UK online travel firm Ebookers.com has similarly come through the storm smiling, announcing its entry on the London stockmarket today. Although the company was formed in the UK and does most of its business in its home country, it was only previously listed on the US Nasdaq and Germany's Neuer Markt.

Ebookers will open on the London market at a price of about 100 pence a share. European funding procured last year will make it cash flow positive at the end of this year, the firm said, and profitable in 2002.

Author: Caroline Gilmour

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