Tech costs disrupt Sabre’s operating income, quarterly revenue grows to $984M

Sabre reported a decline in year-over-year operating income in the third quarter of 2019 – down from $136.8 million to $113.5 million – due to increased technology expenses as the company undergoes a digital transformation. Technology expenses increased by 23% in the quarter to $259 million, part of Sabre’s $1 billion plan to enhance technology in 2019. The company’s previously discussed technology upgrade includes a cloud migration, mainframe offload and utilization of agile development methods. In a call to discuss earnings, Sabre president and CEO Sean Menke says that the company now has nearly 60% of its total computer footprint in the cloud.