Exhibit 99
[LOGO]
RCG Companies Incorporated
RCG Companies Announces Record Travel Bookings
Integration of Business Units On Target
Charlotte, NC -- May 16, 2005 -- RCG Companies Incorporated (AMEX: RCG), a
diversified travel and leisure company, released information that its combined
gross travel bookings for Farequest Holdings, Inc., which operates
1-800-Cheapseats (www.1800cheapseats.com), and OneTravel, Inc.
(www.onetravel.com) have exceeded $20 million for the month of April, which is a
78% increase over April 2004 for those entities and an increase of 49% for those
entities for the three months ending April 2005 over the same three month period
in 2004. Although bookings do not constitute revenue or income under generally
accepted accounting principles, the Company feels that bookings are an
indication of the amount of consumer traffic its travel booking websites are
attracting and that the pricing of its travel offerings is very competitive. The
Company also announced that improving the quality of its hotel offerings will be
a major focus for fiscal 2006.
Commenting on the bookings, William A. Goldstein Chairman and CEO of RCG stated:
"We are extremely pleased with the growth in bookings we have experienced, which
is all organic growth. Since I became associated with RCG this past February,
there have been a lot of changes. We became a "travel only" company, completed
the $25.5 million OneTravel acquisition and closed a related $31 million
financing. We strongly believe that these "changes" are all positive. We are
growing faster than we had planned and we feel we are positioning ourselves very
well in the vast online travel market. The recent travel-related merger and
acquisition announcements indicate to us that the values in our industry are
strong and that should benefit us in the future as the market realizes our size
and organic growth rate. Our fiscal year begins July 1 and, although there are
always challenges, we expect it to be a good one. Every time I travel, I am
amazed at how full the airports are. Whether it is business, personal or leisure
travel, as long as travel remains this strong, we feel we will continue to grab
a significant piece of this growing market."
Commenting on the integration of the three businesses, Goldstein added:
"We really focus on a team approach, but I wish to acknowledge the efforts in
the integration process of Henry Wang our CIO and Susan Mesa our VP of
Operations. Henry has been doing a great job of integrating the respective
strengths of the technology platforms used by OneTravel and 1-800-Cheapseats.
Henry is crossbreeding these technologies, so the end product will be best of
breed. Henry has spent the last five years in the travel industry, and his
ability to blend an understanding of the travel business with his technology
skills are a great asset. Susan and her team are maximizing efficiencies and
productivity in the call centers. We are redirecting overflow calls between
centers to improve our customer service and offline sales. We are also stepping
up cross training so that the skills of each call center are at optimal levels.
As a result of this training, we are seeing promising increases in the sales
levels of our SunTrips vacation packages generated out of the 1-800 Cheapseats
Las Vegas call center."
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About RCG
RCG Companies, Incorporated (www.rcgcompanies.com) derives all of its revenues
from its travel business subsidiaries, FS SunTours, Inc., which sells leisure
and vacation travel packages under the SunTrips(R) brand (www.suntrips.com),
Farequest Holdings, Inc., operating under the name 1-800-CHEAPSEATS
(www.1800cheapseats.com), and OneTravel, Inc. (www.onetravel.com), both of which
are leading online and offline providers of a full range of travel services.
Statements in this news release about anticipated or expected future revenue or
shareholder value growth or expressions of future goals or objectives, including
statements regarding market conditions or whether current plans to grow and
strengthen the Company's business will be implemented or accomplished, are
forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. When used in this release and documents, the
words "anticipate" "believe" "estimate" and "expect" and similar expressions, as
they relate to the Company or its management, are intended to identify such
forward-looking statements, but are not the exclusive means of identifying these
statements. All forward-looking statements in this release are based upon
information available to the Company on the date of this release. Any
forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, including the risk
that the Company will be unable to continue to grow or strengthen its business
due to a lack of capital or a change in market demand for its products and
services or to fully or effectively integrate all business units or the
inability to realize anticipated cost savings or revenue and stockholder value
growth opportunities associated with the recent acquisition of Farequest and the
acquisition of One Travel. There is also a risk that the Company's shareholders
will not approve certain matters related to the sale of the preferred stock in
its most recent financing, which would trigger a redemption, which the Company
may not be able to fund. The Company has previously mentioned in conference
calls that gross bookings are not equal to gross revenues under generally
accepted accounting principles, so no inference can be made about profitability
based on gross bookings unless expressly stated by the Company. The Company is
also subject to those risks and uncertainties described in the Company's filings
with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Company's historical
losses and negative cash flow, its need for additional capital, including to
finance the $12,500,000 promissory notes payable to the former stockholders of
OneTravel, Inc. and that future financing, if available, will dilute the
Company's current common stockholders. Additionally, forward-looking statements
concerning the performance of the travel and leisure industry are based on
current market conditions and risks, which may change as the result of certain
regulatory, political, or economic events, a shift in consumer travel
preferences, as well as those risks and uncertainties described in the Company's
filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which could cause actual
events or results to differ materially from the events or results described in
the forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future
events or otherwise. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these
forward-looking statements.
Investor Contact:
RCG Companies, Incorporated
Marc Bercoon, President
(770) 730-2860
mbercoon@onetravel.com
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