An Online trader has reported a huge rise in the amount of business carried through its web sites but admitted there was "still a lot to do".

lastminute.com, which was posting its first full-year results as a publicly traded company, said the total value of transactions through its sites for the last quarter was ahead nearly 40 per cent on the previous three-month period.

Goods and services worth £13.2 million were sold in the three-months to September 30, compared to £9.6 million in the quarter to the end of June.

A total of £34.2 million was sold for the year as a whole, compared with just £2.6 million in the year before.

lastminute's customer base across Europe grew to almost three million subscribers, from 364,750 at the end of previous year.

But despite registering a gross profit for the full-year, of £3.3 million, before tax the company reported a loss of £35.7 million, against a £4.5 million loss at the same point last year.

"There is still a lot to do," said lastminute's chairman, the former Asda boss Allan Leighton.

He added, however, the company was convinced it could "bring forward" the time when it expected to become cashflow positive.

The acquisition of France's largest e-travel group Degriftour, completed in October, offered significant synergies and had already changed the scale of the company, added Mr Leighton.

This week it intends to launch in Spain, The Netherlands and Italy.

It already operates a localised Australian version of its web site through its joint venture with travel.com.au