Sabre Holdings’ Profit Falls Short of Forecasts

Sabre Holdings Corp., the biggest U.S. travel-reservations company and owner of Travelocity.com, said first-quarter profit fell short of lowered forecasts as the war in Iraq caused customers to travel less.

Profit, excluding a one-time gain and some costs, was 36 cents a share according to preliminary figures, Sabre spokesman Michael Berman said. On March 11, Sabre cut its forecast for the quarter to a profit of 38 cents to 42 cents a share on that basis.

Shares of Sabre fell 99 cents to $15.07 in after-hours trading after the release of the preliminary results. The shares fell 19 cents to $16.06 on Nasdaq in regular trading.