Travel business CNG Travel experienced a 11.5% fall in its share price to 90.75p after it failed to produce a maiden profit. The company floated on AIM last May after raising £22m to pay off debt, flotation and aborted acquisition costs. It also purchased the remaining 20% of Tzell travel agency and acquired consumer travel website PlacesToStay for $12.5m. CNG managed to increase turnover in 2004 by 15% to $55.5m (£29.2m) but the pre-tax loss of $5.6m was caused by an equivalent non-recurring non-cash finance charge. Net debt is $8m. Although Tzell, ranked as the fifth largest independent travel agency in the US, is profitable, its online business had made a false start as sales did not materialise as quickly as expected, according to house broker Evolution Securities. CNG developed a desktop application called TLC that enables travel agents to book hotel reservations from its own stock of 25,000 hotels as well as hotels available from the traditional GDS (global distribution systems) providers. The appeal for agents is in receiving higher and earlier commissions on this platform. The company also moved to a Promtpay system, where it gains revenues from a fee to enact the transaction and higher margins of its own hotel inventory. The benefits for customers is that they pay on departure rather than when the booking is made. Usage of the systems is rising steadily and the company aims for it to be profitable in 2005. Evolution expects pre-tax profits of $14m in 2005 but the stock remains speculative until its online model attracts large volumes from customers.