TRAVELZOO - Quarter Report: 2003 March (Form 10-Q)

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UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Form 10-Q

Commission File No.: 000-50171

TRAVELZOO INC.

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code:
(212) 521-4200

     Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.     Yes þ           Noo

     Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an accelerated filer (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act).      Yes o           Noþ

     As of May 2, 2003, the registrant had outstanding 19,425,147 shares of its $0.01 par value common stock.

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TRAVELZOO INC.

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PART I. FINANCIAL INFORMATION

Item 1.      Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements

TRAVELZOO INC.
 
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
(Unaudited)

See accompanying notes to unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements.

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TRAVELZOO INC.
 
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
(Unaudited)

See accompanying notes to unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements.

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TRAVELZOO INC.
 
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
(Unaudited)

See accompanying notes to unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements.

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TRAVELZOO INC.

NOTES TO CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

(1) Basis of Presentation

      The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared by Travelzoo Inc. (the “Company” or “Travelzoo”) in accordance with the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Certain information and footnote disclosure normally included in consolidated financial statements prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of America have been condensed or omitted in accordance with such rules and regulations. In the opinion of management, the accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements reflect all adjustments, consisting only of normal recurring adjustments, necessary to present fairly the financial position of the Company, and its results of operations and cash flows. These condensed consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the Company’s audited consolidated financial statements and related notes as of and for the year ended December 31, 2002, included in the Company’s Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 28, 2003.

      The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Travelzoo and its wholly-owned subsidiaries. All significant intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.

      The results of operations for the three months ended March 31, 2003 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the year ending December 31, 2003 or any other future period, and the Company makes no representations related thereto.

      During January 2001, the Board of Directors of Travelzoo.com Corporation proposed that Travelzoo.com Corporation be merged with Travelzoo Inc. whereby Travelzoo Inc. would be the surviving entity. On March 15, 2002, the stockholders of Travelzoo.com Corporation approved the merger with Travelzoo Inc. On April 25, 2002, the certificate of merger was filed in Delaware upon which the merger became effective and Travelzoo.com Corporation was dissolved. Each outstanding share of common stock of Travelzoo.com Corporation was converted into the right to receive one share of common stock of Travelzoo Inc. Former stockholders of Travelzoo.com Corporation have a period of two years to receive shares of Travelzoo Inc. Travelzoo.com Corporation had 11,295,874 shares outstanding. As of March 31, 2003, 7,133,003 shares of Travelzoo.com Corporation had been exchanged for shares of Travelzoo Inc. The remaining 4,162,871 shares of Travelzoo Inc. that may be exchanged are included in the issued and outstanding common stock of Travelzoo Inc. and the calculations of basic and diluted earnings per share. The merger was accounted for as a combination of entities under common control using “as-if pooling-of-interests” accounting. Under this method of accounting, the assets and liabilities of Travelzoo.com Corporation and Travelzoo Inc. were carried forward to the combined company at their historical costs. In addition, all prior period financial statements of Travelzoo Inc. were restated to include the combined results of operations, financial position and cash flows of Travelzoo.com Corporation. The restated results for Travelzoo Inc. are identical to the combined results of Travelzoo.com Corporation and Travelzoo Inc.

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TRAVELZOO INC.

NOTES TO CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

(2) Revenue Recognition

      Substantially all revenue consists of advertising sales. Advertising revenues are derived principally from the sale of advertising on the Travelzoo website and in the Travelzoo Top 20 e-mail newsletter.

      Advertising revenues are recognized in the period in which the advertisement is displayed, provided that evidence of an arrangement exists, the fees are fixed and determinable, no significant obligations remain at the end of the period, and collection of the resulting receivable is deemed probable. Where collectibility is not probable, the revenue will be recognized upon cash collection, provided that the other criteria for revenue recognition have been met. If fixed-fee advertising is displayed over a term greater than one month, revenues are recognized ratably over the period. To the extent that any minimum guaranteed impressions are not met during the contract period, the Company defers recognition of the corresponding revenues until the guaranteed impressions are achieved. Fees for banner advertising and other variable-fee advertising arrangements are recognized based on the number of impressions displayed or clicks delivered during the period.

      The Company had outsourced part of its advertising sales and production activities to DoubleClick, Inc. (“DoubleClick”). The agreement with DoubleClick was canceled as of August 23, 2002. Under the terms of the agreement with DoubleClick, the Company received a portion of the revenue received by DoubleClick from clients for the display of advertising on the Travelzoo website. The Company records these revenues on a net basis. The gross revenue received by DoubleClick from advertising on the Travelzoo website was $-0- and $25,121 for the three months ended March 31, 2003 and 2002, respectively. The Company’s share of this income, which has been recorded as revenue, was $-0- and $12,058 for the three months ended March 31, 2003 and 2002, respectively.

      In October 2001, the Company completed the acquisition of the Weekends.com domain name. As consideration for the purchase, the Company paid the seller $125,000 in cash and agreed to provide a minimum number of clicks to the seller’s other websites through advertising placed on the Travelzoo website. The fair value of the advertising services of $89,286 was determined based on the cash price of similar advertising services and recorded as deferred revenue. The revenue is being recognized as the clicks are delivered, and $3,410 of such revenue was recognized for the three months ended March 31, 2002. The agreement with the seller to provide advertising services expired on September 30, 2002. As such, $69,427 of advertising was not delivered and the carrying amounts of the intangible asset and related deferred revenue were reduced accordingly.

(3) Stock-based Compensation

      The Company adopted Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 148, Accounting for Stock-Based Compensation — Transition and Disclosure, during the quarter ended March 31, 2003. As required under Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 123, Accounting for Stock-Based Compensation, and Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 148, Accounting for Stock-Based Compensation Transition and Disclosure, the pro forma effects of stock-based compensation on net income and net earnings per common share have been estimated at the time of grant using the Black-Scholes option-pricing model.

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TRAVELZOO INC.

NOTES TO CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

      For purposes of pro forma disclosures, the estimated fair value of the options is assumed to be amortized to expense over the options’ vesting periods. The pro forma effects of recognizing compensation expense under the fair value method on net income and net earnings per common share were as follows:

      The fair value of options granted was calculated as of the grant date using the Black-Scholes method with the following assumptions:

(4) Net Income Per Share

      Net income per share has been calculated under SFAS No. 128, Earnings per Share. Basic net income per share is computed by dividing the net income by the weighted-average number of common shares outstanding for the period. Diluted net income per share is computed by dividing net income by the weighted-average number of common shares and potential common shares outstanding during the period. Potential common shares included in the diluted calculation consists of incremental shares issuable upon the exercise of outstanding stock options calculated using the treasury stock method.

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TRAVELZOO INC.

NOTES TO CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

      The following table sets forth the calculation of basic and diluted net income per share:

      For the three months ended March 31, 2002, all outstanding stock options were excluded from the calculation of diluted earnings per share because their effect was antidilutive.

(5) Commitments

      The Company leases office space in Mountain View, California, and in New York, New York, under operating leases which expire on December 31, 2003 and June 30, 2004, respectively. The future minimum rental payments under these operating leases as of March 31, 2003 and December 31, 2002 total $629,485 and $556,940, respectively. The future lease payments consist of $431,545 of payments due in 2003 and $197,940 of payments due in 2004.

(6) Significant Customer Information and Segment Reporting

      SFAS No. 131, Disclosure about Segments of an Enterprise and Related Information, establishes standards for the reporting by business enterprises of information about operating segments, products and services, geographic areas, and major customers. The method for determining what information to report is based on the way that management organizes the operating segments within a company for making operational decisions and assessing performance. As of March 31, 2003, the Company has one operating segment.

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TRAVELZOO INC.

NOTES TO CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

      Significant customer information is as follows:

(7) Recent Accounting Pronouncements

      In August 2001, the Financial Accounting Standards Board issued SFAS No. 143, Accounting for Asset Retirement Obligations. SFAS No. 143 addresses financial accounting and reporting for obligations associated with retirement of tangible long-lived assets and the associated retirement costs. SFAS No. 143 is effective for the Company beginning in 2003 and the adoption of this statement did not have a material impact on the consolidated financial statements.

      In April 2002, the Financial Accounting Standards Board issued SFAS No. 145, Rescission of FASB Statements No. 4, 44, and 64, Amendment of FASB Statement No. 13, and Technical Corrections. SFAS No. 145 rescinds the requirement that all gains and losses from extinguishment of debt be classified as an extraordinary item. Additionally, SFAS No. 145 requires that certain lease modifications that have economic effects similar to sale-leaseback transactions be accounted for in the same manner as sale-leaseback transactions. SFAS No. 145 is effective for the Company beginning in 2003, and the effect of adoption did not have a material impact on the consolidated financial statements.

      In January 2003, the FASB issued Interpretation No. 46, Consolidation of Variable Interest Entities (“FIN 46”). The interpretation provides guidance for determining when a primary beneficiary should consolidate a variable interest entity or equivalent structure, that functions to support the activities of the primary beneficiary. The interpretation is effective as of the beginning of the Company’s third quarter of 2003 for variable interest entities created before February 1, 2003. The Company holds no interest in any variable interest entities. Accordingly, the adoption of this statement is currently not expected to have a material impact on the consolidated financial statements.

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Item 2.      Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

     The information in this Report contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Such statements are based upon current expectations, assumptions, estimates and projections about Travelzoo and our industry. These forward-looking statements are subject to the many risks and uncertainties that exist in our operations and business environment that may cause actual results, performance or achievements of Travelzoo to be different from those expected or anticipated in the forward-looking statements. Any statements contained herein that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. For example, words such as “may”, “will”, “should”, “estimates”, “predicts”, “potential”, “continue”, “strategy”, “believes”, “anticipates”, “plans”, “expects”, “intends”, and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Travelzoo’s actual results and the timing of certain events could differ significantly from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements. Factors that might cause or contribute to such a discrepancy include, but are not limited to, those discussed elsewhere in this Report in the section entitled “Risk Factors” and the risks discussed in our other Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) filings. The forward-looking statements included in this report reflect the beliefs of our management on the date of this report. Travelzoo undertakes no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements for any reason, even if new information becomes available or other events or circumstances occur in the future.

Overview

     Travelzoo Inc. is an Internet media company that publishes sales and specials for hundreds of travel companies. As the Internet is becoming the preferred medium of consumers to search for travel offers, we provide airlines, hotels, cruise lines, vacation packagers, and other travel companies with a fast, flexible, and cost-effective way to reach millions of users. Our products include the Travelzoo website, the Travelzoo Top 20 newsletter, and the Weekend.com newsletter.

     More than 200 companies use our services. Our clients include American Airlines, American Express, Alamo Rent-a-Car, Apple Vacations, America West Vacations, Avis Rent A Car, British Airways, Marriott Hotels, Norwegian Cruise Line, Park Place Entertainment, Pleasant Holidays, Spirit Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Expedia, Funjet Vacations, Hilton Hotels, JetBlue Airways, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Royal Caribbean, Southwest Airlines, and United Airlines.

     Our revenues are derived principally from the sale of advertising on our Travelzoo website and in our Travelzoo Top 20 e-mail newsletter.

Critical Accounting Policies

     We believe that there are a number of accounting policies that are critical to understanding our historical and future performance, as these policies affect the reported amounts of revenue and the more significant areas involving management’s judgments and estimates. These significant accounting policies relate to revenue recognition and the provision for doubtful accounts. These policies, and our procedures related to these policies, are described in detail below.

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Revenue Recognition

     Substantially all of our revenues are advertising revenues, consisting of fees paid by travel companies to advertise their special offers on the Travelzoo website, the Travelzoo Top 20 e-mail newsletter, and the Weekend.com e-mail newsletter. Listing fees are based on placement, number of listings, number of impressions, or number of clickthroughs. Banner advertising rates are based on CPM rates (cost per thousand impressions). Smaller advertising agreements — typically $2,000 or less per month — typically renew automatically each month if they are not terminated by the client. Larger agreements are typically related to advertising campaigns and are not automatically renewed.

     We recognize advertising revenues in the period in which the advertisement is displayed, provided that evidence of an arrangement exists, the fees are fixed and determinable, no significant obligations remain at the end of the period, and collection of the resulting receivable is deemed probable. If fixed-fee advertising is displayed over a term greater than one month, revenues are recognized ratably over the period. To the extent that any minimum guaranteed impressions are not met during the contract period, the Company defers recognition of the corresponding revenues until the guaranteed impressions are achieved. Fees for banner advertising and other variable-fee advertising arrangements are recognized based on the number of impressions displayed or clicks delivered during the period.

     Under these policies, no revenue is recognized unless persuasive evidence of an arrangement exists, delivery has occurred, the fee is fixed or determinable, and collection is deemed probable. The Company evaluates each of these criteria as follows:

Provision for Doubtful Accounts

     We initially record a provision for doubtful accounts based on our historical experience of write-offs and then adjust this provision at the end of each reporting period based on a detailed assessment of our accounts receivable and allowance for doubtful accounts. In estimating the provision for doubtful accounts, management considers the age of the accounts receivable, our historical write-offs, the credit-worthiness of the client, the economic conditions of the client’s industry, and general economic conditions, among other factors. Should any of these factors change, the estimates made by management will also change, which could impact the level of our future provision for doubtful accounts. Specifically, if the financial condition of our clients were to deteriorate, affecting their ability to make payments, additional provision for doubtful accounts may be required.

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Results of Operations

     The following table sets forth, as a percentage of total revenues, the results of our operations for the periods indicated.

     For the three months ended March 31, 2003, we reported pre-tax income of approximately $652,000. As of March 31, 2003, we had retained earnings of approximately $2.1 million.

Acquisition of Subscribers

     In the three months ended March 31, 2003, we acquired 693,000 new subscribers for our Travelzoo Top 20 product through advertising campaigns for the Travelzoo brand. Subscription to the Travelzoo Top 20 e-mail newsletter is free. However, we believe that these additional subscribers add significant value to the Company because the additional subscribers may allow us to increase our advertising rates in the future.

     The cost related to the acquisition of the new subscribers is included in our advertising expenses. Advertising expenses are included in sales and marketing expenses. For the three months ended March 31, 2003, our advertising expenses were $1.3 million.

Revenues

     Our total revenues increased to $3.7 million for the three months ended March 31, 2003, from $2.0 million for the three months ended March 31, 2002. The increase in our total revenues was due to signing on new clients and increased spending from existing clients.

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     Cost of Revenues

     Cost of revenues consists of network expenses, including fees we pay for co-location services, depreciation of network equipment and salary expenses associated with network operations staff. Our cost of revenues decreased to $83,000 for the three months ended March 31, 2003, from $86,000 for the three months ended March 31, 2002. As a percentage of revenue, cost of revenues decreased to 2% for the three months ended March 31, 2003 from 4% for the three months ended March 31, 2002. The decrease resulted primarily from an increase in revenues that was not offset by an increase in our network operations costs.

     Operating Expenses

     Income Taxes

     For the three months ended March 31, 2003, we recorded an income tax provision of $267,000. For the three months ended March 31, 2002, we recorded an income tax provision of $133,000. Our income is generally taxed in the U.S. and our income tax provision reflects federal and state statutory rates applicable to our levels of income and the effect of non-deductible merger expenses in 2002.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

     As of March 31, 2003, we had $1.8 million in cash and cash equivalents. Cash and cash equivalents increased from $1.3 million on December 31, 2002, primarily as a result of operating income and an increase in accrued expenses offset by an increase in accounts receivable. We expect that cash flows generated from operations will continue to be sufficient to provide for our working capital needs in the near future.

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     Net cash provided by operating activities in the three months ended March 31, 2003 was $527,000. Net cash used by operating activities in the three months ended March 31, 2002 was $193,000. In the three months ended March 31, 2003, net cash provided by operating activities resulted primarily from operating income and an increase in accrued expenses offset by an increase in accounts receivable. In the three months ended March 31, 2002, net cash used in operating activities resulted primarily from a decrease in income tax payable and an increase in accounts receivable offset by our net income, and an increase in deferred revenue.

     Net cash used in investing activities was $8,000 and $5,000 during the three months ended March 31, 2003 and 2002, respectively. In both periods, net cash was used in investing activities for equipment purchases.

     There were no cash flows related to financing activities in the three months ended March 31, 2003 and 2002.

     Our capital requirements will depend on a number of factors, including market acceptance of our products and services, the amount of resources we devote to our products, including the Travelzoo website, the Travelzoo Top 20 newsletter, the Weekend.com newsletter, the expansion of our operations and the amount of resources we devote to promoting awareness of the Travelzoo brand. Consistent with our growth, we have experienced a substantial increase in our sales and marketing expenses and general and administrative expenses since inception, and we anticipate that these increases will continue for the foreseeable future. We believe cash on hand and generated during those periods will be sufficient to pay such costs. In addition, we will continue to evaluate possible investments in businesses, products and technologies, the consummation of any of which would increase our capital requirements.

     Although we currently believe that we have sufficient capital resources to meet our anticipated working capital and capital expenditure requirements beyond the next 12 months, unanticipated events and opportunities may require us to sell additional equity or debt securities or establish new credit facilities to raise capital in order to meet our capital requirements. If we sell additional equity or convertible debt securities, the sale could dilute the ownership of our existing stockholders. If we issue debt securities or establish a new credit facility, our fixed obligations could increase and result in operating covenants that would restrict our operations. We cannot be sure that any such financing will be available in amounts or on terms acceptable to us.

RISK FACTORS

     Investing in our common stock involves a high degree of risk. Any or all of the risks listed below could have a material adverse effect on our business, our quarterly and annual operating results or financial condition, which could cause the market price of our stock to decline or cause substantial volatility in our stock price, in which event the value of your common stock could decline. You should also keep these risk factors in mind when you read forward-looking statements. We have identified all of the material risks which we believe may affect our business and the principal ways in which we anticipate that they may affect our business or financial condition.

Risks Related to Our Financial Condition and Business Model

     Our limited operating history makes our business difficult to evaluate.

     We were incorporated and began generating revenues in May 1998. Accordingly, we have only a limited operating history for you to consider in evaluating our business. As a new company, we face risks and uncertainties relating to our ability to successfully implement our business plan. You must consider

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the risks, expenses and uncertainties which can materially affect the business of an early stage company like ours. These risks include uncertainty whether we will be able to:

     We cannot assure you that we will sustain profitability.

     Although we have been profitable in the past, there is no assurance that we will continue to be profitable. We forecast our future expense levels based on our operating plans and our estimates of future revenues. We may find it necessary to accelerate expenditures relating to our sales and marketing efforts or otherwise increase our financial commitment to creating and maintaining brand awareness among travel companies and Internet users. If our revenues grow at a slower rate than we anticipate, or if our spending levels exceed our expectations or cannot be adjusted to reflect slower revenue growth, we may not generate sufficient revenues to sustain profitability. In this case, the value of the shares of Travelzoo could be reduced.

     Fluctuations in our operating results may negatively impact our stock price.

     Our quarterly operating results may fluctuate significantly in the future due to a variety of factors that could affect our revenues or our expenses in any particular quarter. You should not rely on quarter-to-quarter comparisons of our results of operations as an indication of future performance. Factors that may affect our quarterly results include:

     In addition, we plan to significantly increase our operating expenses to expand our sales and marketing, and production department. If revenues fall below our expectations in any quarter and we are unable to quickly reduce our spending in response, our operating results would be lower than expected and our stock price may fall.

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      In addition, we are required under generally accepted accounting principles to review our intangible assets for impairment when events or changes in circumstances indicate the carrying value may not be recoverable. We may be required to record a significant expense or charge to earnings in our financial statements in the period any impairment of intangible assets is determined.

      In the three months ended March 31, 2003, two clients accounted for 20% of our revenues. The loss of one client or both clients may result in a significant decrease in our revenues and results of operations, which could have a material adverse effect on our business.

      Our current revenue model depends on advertising fees from travel companies using our products. If current clients decide not to continue advertising their sales and specials with us and we are unable to replace them with new clients, our business may be adversely affected. To be successful, we must provide online marketing solutions that achieve broad market acceptance by travel companies. In addition, we must attract sufficient Internet users with attractive demographic characteristics to our products. It is possible that we will be required to further adapt our business model in response to changes in the online advertising market or if our current business model is not successful. If we are not able to anticipate changes in the online advertising market or if our business model is not successful, our business could be materially adversely affected.

      We intend to continue to grow our business, and intend to fund our current operations and our anticipated growth from the cash flow generated from our operations and our retained earnings. However, these sources may not be sufficient to meet our needs. We may not be able to obtain additional financing on commercially reasonable terms, or at all.

      If additional financing is not available when required or is not available on acceptable terms, we may be unable to fund our expansion, successfully promote our brand name, develop or enhance our products and services, take advantage of business opportunities or respond to competitive pressures, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business.

      If we choose to raise additional funds through the issuance of equity securities, you may experience significant dilution of your ownership interest, and holders of the additional equity securities may have rights senior to those of the holders of our common stock. If we obtain additional financing by issuing debt securities, the terms of these securities could restrict or prevent us from paying dividends and could limit our flexibility in making business decisions.

      The demand for online advertising may be linked to the level of economic activity and employment in the U.S. and abroad. Specifically, our business is dependent on the spending of travel companies. The current recession has decreased consumer travel and caused travel companies to reduce or postpone their marketing spending generally, and their online marketing spending in particular. If the current economic downturn continues or worsens in the U.S. or abroad, our business and financial condition could be materially adversely affected.

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      The Securities Exchange Act of 1934 requires us to provide paper copies of certain reports to our stockholders who do not consent to receiving electronic delivery. If a significant number of our stockholders do not consent to electronic delivery of stockholder communications or revoke such consent, we may face significant costs related to the printing and mailing of such reports.

Risks Related to Our Markets and Strategy

      The future of our business is dependent on the ongoing acceptance by travel companies of the Internet as an effective marketing tool, and on the ongoing acceptance by consumers of the Internet as a source for information on offers from travel companies. The adoption of online marketing by travel companies, particularly among those that have historically relied upon traditional advertising methods, requires the acceptance of a new way of conducting business, marketing and advertising. Many of our potential clients have little or no experience using the Internet as a marketing tool, and not all Internet users have experience using the Internet to look for travel offers. As a result, we cannot be sure that we will be able to effectively compete with traditional advertising methods. If we are unable to compete with traditional advertising methods, our business and results of operations could be materially adversely affected.

      Our servers and software must be able to accommodate a high volume of traffic. Any substantial increase in demands on our servers will require us to expand and adapt our network infrastructure. If we are unable to add additional software and hardware to accommodate increased demand, we could experience unanticipated system disruptions and slower response times. Any catastrophic failure at our co-location facility could prevent us from serving our web traffic for up to several days, and any failure of our Internet service provider may adversely affect our network’s performance. Our clients may become dissatisfied by any system failure that interrupts our ability to provide our products and services to them or results in slower response times. We do not maintain business interruption insurance. Any system failure, including network, software or hardware failure, that causes an interruption in the delivery of our products and services or a decrease in responsiveness of our services could result in reduced revenue and could materially adversely affect our reputation and brand.

      We believe that continuing to build awareness of the Travelzoo brand name is critical to achieving widespread acceptance of our business. Brand recognition is a key differentiating factor among providers of online advertising opportunities, and we believe it could become more important as competition in our industry increases. In order to maintain and build brand awareness, we must succeed in our marketing efforts, provide high quality service and increase the number of Internet users with favorable demographics using Travelzoo. If we fail to successfully promote and maintain our brand, incur significant expenses in promoting our brand and fail to generate a corresponding increase in revenue as a result of our branding efforts, or encounter legal obstacles which prevent our continued use of our brand name, our business could be materially adversely affected.

      Events like the war with Iraq or the terrorist attacks on the United States in 2001 have a negative impact on the travel industry. We are not in a position to evaluate the net effect of these circumstances on our business. In the longer term, our business might be negatively affected by financial pressures on the travel industry. However, our business may also benefit if travel companies increase their efforts to promote special offers or other marketing programs. If the events result in a long-term negative impact on the travel industry, such impact could have a material adverse effect on our business.

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      To remain competitive, we must continually improve the responsiveness, functionality and features of our products and services. We may not succeed in developing features, functions, products or services that travel companies and Internet users find attractive. This could reduce the number of travel companies and Internet users using our products and materially adversely affect our business.

      Our success is dependent on our ability to develop new and enhanced software, services and related products to meet rapidly evolving technological requirements for online advertising. Our current technology may not meet the future technical requirements of travel companies. Trends that could have a critical impact on our success include:

      If we are unable to timely and successfully develop and introduce new products and enhancements to existing products in response to our industry’s changing technological requirements, our business could be materially adversely affected.

      Our future success depends on our ability to attract, train, motivate and retain highly skilled employees. We may be unable to retain our skilled employees or attract, assimilate and retain other highly skilled employees in the future. We have from time to time in the past experienced, and we expect to continue to experience in the future, difficulty in hiring and retaining highly skilled employees with appropriate qualifications. If we are unable to hire and retain skilled personnel, our growth may be restricted, which could adversely affect our future success.

      We have recently experienced a period of rapid growth. In order to execute our business plan, we must continue to grow significantly. As of March 31, 2003, we had 27 employees. We expect that the number of our employees will continue to increase for the foreseeable future. This growth has placed, and our anticipated future growth combined with the requirements we face as a public company will continue to place, a significant strain on our management, systems and resources. We expect that we will need to continue to improve our financial and managerial controls and reporting systems and procedures. We will also need to continue to expand and maintain close coordination among our technical, accounting, finance and sales and marketing organizations. We may not succeed in these efforts. Our inability to expand our operations in an efficient manner could cause our expenses to grow disproportionately to revenues, our revenues to decline or grow more slowly than expected and otherwise have a material adverse effect on our business.

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      We compete with large Internet portal sites, such as About.com, America Online, Lycos, MSN and Yahoo!, that offer listings or other advertising opportunities for travel companies. These companies have significantly greater financial, technical, marketing and other resources and larger client bases than we do. In addition, we compete with newspapers, magazines and other traditional media companies that provide online advertising opportunities. We expect to face additional competition as other established and emerging companies, including print media companies, enter the online advertising market.

      We believe that there will be rapid business consolidation in the online advertising industry. Accordingly, new competitors may emerge and rapidly acquire significant market share. The development of competing technologies by market participants or the emergence of new industry standards may also adversely affect our competitive position. Competition could result in reduced margins on our services, loss of market share or less use of Travelzoo by travel companies and consumers. If we are not able to compete effectively with current or future competitors as a result of these and other factors, our business could be materially adversely affected.

      Our future success depends to a significant extent on the continued service and coordination of our management team, particularly Ralph Bartel, our Chairman, President, Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer and Secretary. The loss or departure of any of our officers or key employees could materially adversely affect our ability to implement our business plan. We do not maintain key person life insurance for any member of our management team. In addition, we expect new members to join our management team in the future. These individuals will not previously have worked together and will be required to become integrated into our management team. If our key management personnel are not able to work together effectively or successfully, our business could be materially adversely affected.

      We use technology and software products from third parties including Microsoft. Technology from our current or other vendors may not continue to be available to us on commercially reasonable terms, or at all. Our business will suffer if we are unable to access this technology, to gain access to additional products or to integrate new technology with our existing systems. This could cause delays in our development and introduction of new services and related products or enhancements of existing products until equivalent or replacement technology can be accessed, if available, or developed internally, if feasible. If we experience these delays, our business could be materially adversely affected.

Risks Related to the Market for our Shares

      On August 28, 2002, our shares commenced trading on the OTC Bulletin Board. However, there has been only limited trading in the shares since that time, at widely varying prices, and the trading to date has not resulted in an active market for our shares. We cannot assure you that an active market for our shares will be established or maintained in the future. If such market is not established or maintained, stockholders will not be able to readily sell their shares.

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     We are controlled by a principal stockholder.

     Ralph Bartel, who founded Travelzoo and who is our Chairman of the Board, President, Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer and Secretary, is our largest stockholder, holding approximately 72% of our outstanding shares with options to increase his percentage ownership to 75% on a fully-diluted basis, assuming all former stockholders of Travelzoo Bahamas receive shares of Travelzoo Inc. Through his share ownership, he is in a position to control Travelzoo and to elect our entire board of directors.

     Investors may face significant restrictions on the resale of our stock due to federal penny stock regulations.

     If our shares trade at less than five dollars per share, since the shares are not listed on a recognized national exchange or on NASDAQ, our common stock may be deemed to be a “penny stock” under Rule 3a51-1 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Compliance with the requirements governing penny stocks may make it more difficult for investors in our common stock to resell their shares to third parties or to otherwise dispose of them.

     Section 15(g) of the Exchange Act, and Rule 15g-2 under the Exchange Act, require broker-dealers dealing in penny stocks to provide potential investors with a document disclosing the risks of penny stocks and to obtain a manually signed and dated written receipt of the document before effecting any transaction in a penny stock for the investor’s account. Moreover, Rule 15g-9 promulgated under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 requires broker-dealers in penny stocks to approve the account of any investor for transactions in such stocks before selling any penny stock to that investor. These requirements significantly increase the time necessary for a broker-dealer to sell a stock and limit the available purchasers for a stock.

Risks Related to Legal Uncertainty

     We may become subject to burdensome government regulations and legal uncertainties affecting the Internet which could adversely
     affect our business.

     To date, governmental regulations have not materially restricted use of the Internet in our markets. However, the legal and regulatory environment that pertains to the Internet is uncertain and may change. Uncertainty and new regulations could increase our costs of doing business, prevent us from delivering our products and services over the Internet or slow the growth of the Internet. In addition to new laws and regulations being adopted, existing laws may be applied to the Internet. New and existing laws may cover issues which include:

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     We may be unable to protect our registered trademark or other proprietary intellectual property rights.

     Our success depends to a significant degree upon the protection of the Travelzoo brand name. We rely upon a combination of copyright, trade secret and trademark laws and non-disclosure and other contractual arrangements to protect our intellectual property rights. The steps we have taken to protect our proprietary rights, however, may not be adequate to deter misappropriation of proprietary information.

     The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office registered the trademark for “Travelzoo” on January 23, 2001. If we are unable to protect our rights in the mark, a key element of our strategy of promoting Travelzoo as a brand could be disrupted and our business could be adversely affected. We may not be able to detect unauthorized use of our proprietary information or take appropriate steps to enforce our intellectual property rights. In addition, the validity, enforceability and scope of protection of intellectual property in Internet-related industries is uncertain and still evolving. The laws of other countries in which we may market our services in the future are uncertain and may afford little or no effective protection of our intellectual property. The unauthorized reproduction or other misappropriation of our proprietary technology could enable third parties to benefit from our technology and brand name without paying us for them. If this were to occur, our business could be materially adversely affected.

     We may face liability from intellectual property litigation that could be costly to prosecute or defend and distract management’s
     attention with no assurance of success.

     We cannot be certain that our products, content and brand names do not or will not infringe valid patents, copyrights or other intellectual property rights held by third parties. While we have a trademark for “Travelzoo,” many companies in the industry have similar names including the word “travel”. We expect that infringement claims in our markets will increase in number as more participants enter the markets. We may be subject to legal proceedings and claims from time to time relating to the intellectual property of others in the ordinary course of our business. We may incur substantial expenses in defending against these third party infringement claims, regardless of their merit, and such claims could result in a significant diversion of the efforts of our management personnel. Successful infringement claims against us may result in monetary liability or a material disruption in the conduct of our business.

     We may be liable as a result of information retrieved from or transmitted over the Internet.

     We may be sued for defamation, negligence, copyright or trademark infringement or other legal claims relating to information that is published or made available in our products. These types of claims have been brought, sometimes successfully, against online services in the past. The fact that we distribute information via e-mail may subject us to potential risks, such as liabilities or claims resulting from unsolicited e-mail or spamming, lost or misdirected messages, security breaches, illegal or fraudulent use of e-mail or interruptions or delays in e-mail service. In addition, we could incur significant costs in investigating and defending such claims, even if we ultimately are not liable. If any of these events occur, our business could be materially adversely affected.

     Our accounts receivable are subject, in normal course of business, to collection risks. We regularly assess these risks and have established policies and business practices to protect against the adverse effects of collection risks. As a result, we do not anticipate any material losses in this area.

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       (a)  Within the 90 days prior to the date of this report, we carried out an evaluation, under the supervision and with the participation of the Company’s management, including the Company’s President, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer along with the Company’s Controller (Chief Accounting Officer), of the effectiveness of the design and operation of our disclosure controls and procedures pursuant to Exchange Act Rule 13a-14. Based upon that evaluation, the Company’s President, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer along with the Company’s Controller (Chief Accounting Officer) concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures are effective in timely alerting them to material information relating to the Company (including its consolidated subsidiaries) required to be included in our periodic SEC filings.

       (b)  There have been no significant changes in our internal controls or in other factors that could significantly affect internal controls subsequent to the date we carried out this evaluation.

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PART II. OTHER INFORMATION

Item 6.      Exhibits and Reports on Form 8-K

     On January 30, 2003, Travelzoo filed a Current Report on Form 8-K furnishing the audited consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2002 in connection with the application of Travelzoo to be listed on the NASDAQ SmallCap Market.

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SIGNATURES

     Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, in the City of New York, State of New York, on May 3, 2003.

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CERTIFICATION

CERTIFICATION OF CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER AND CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER PURSUANT
TO SECTION 302 OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002

I, Ralph Bartel, certify that: