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TWST: Can we begin with a quick sketch and update on lastminute.com (London:LMC.L; NasdaqNM:LMIN) ?

Mr. Howell: Historically, the company came to market in March 2000 right at the peak of the Internet boom and raised a very significant sum of money, which stood us in good stead for the investments made in technology and brand development over the past three years. Since float, the company has moved forward significantly and if you look at TTV (total transaction value) through the website, it was £112m of business in the year to September 2001, £246m in the year September 2002, and analyst consensus for the current year is somewhere around £600m. So you can see the significant growth that has been achieved and this is both organic -- we grow at some 50+% organically -- supplemented by strategic acquisitions in various product areas and European geographies.

TWST: Given that customer base, presumably cross-selling is a good source of income.

Mr. Howell: Yes it is, and one of the reasons we have the breadth of product is because customers can start with us in a very inexpensive, low-key transaction. They can purchase a theatre ticket, for example; not the end of the world in their mind if it doesn't work. But hopefully they have a good experience, and then trade up. We've recently acquired a company called holiday autos which is car broking business. They have 700,000 customers annually. We want to be able to sell their car rental product to our 1 million customers and, as importantly, all of our products into their 700,000 customers.

TWST: Was the acquisition your first entrance into car rentals?

Mr. Howell: Yes. We were there in a very, very small way. We had less then £10m of car rental business. holiday autos has over £154m. That gives scale and in travel the larger you are, the better the commission rates you get, therefore the more money you make.

TWST: Can you elaborate on your strategy regarding acquisitions? Is it about bringing in new products to the portfolio?

Mr. Howell: It's not only new products. It's expanding the size of existing products. Our first UK acquisition was a company called Travelselect, which is a flight operator. We see flights as a Trojan horse, but we want to be great at it so we can put it together with all of the other products. If you look at British Airways for instance, lastminute.com. was selling approximately £1m of products for BA before the acquisition, which is no larger than a reasonable corporate. Following the acquisition of Travelselect our sales capability went up to in excess of £20 million and suddenly we have become a preferred partner, get access to all of the best rates that are in the market, etc.

TWST: How would you say the investment community is responding to your story?

Mr. Howell: Investors are very pleased with progress. With the acquisition of holiday autos which was announced last week, we went back to market to raise £12m. And going back to market in the middle of a war, for an Internet company operating in travel, was quite a challenging thing to do. But investors supported that acquisition, which was great.

TWST: When you have a chance to sit down with investors, what are the three or four compelling points you would give for them to take a close look at your stock?

Mr. Howell: Look at the growth. Look at how we have moved towards profitability. Look at how we've reduced our cost. Look at how we've improved our margins. And look at the future. The Internet works in our space, which is about travel and lifestyle, and it works incredibly well. It is well-suited and that message is getting home.