The travel and leisure division of Scottish-based Minoan Group saw profits rise by almost £200,000 last year.
The cruise and golf sectors grew “substantially ahead of the market,” the company which owns Stewart Travel reported today, while indicating it was considering further acquisitions.
The travel and leisure division, which runs eight travel agency businesses, saw pre-tax profits increase to £604,000 in the year to October 31 from £413,000 a year earlier.
Total transaction value grew by 37% to reach £51.2 million.
“This impressive growth reflects a mix of volume growth and the fruits of a conscious strategy to move away from traditional retail business towards higher margin business, thereby generating an overall increase in gross margin,” the company said.
Minoan, which has long-term plans to develop a resort in Crete, reported a reduced pre-tax loss of £1.1 million from £1.3 million a year earlier.
Chairman Christopher Egleton described the 12 months as the company’s “most successful year to date” and the trading performance of the travel and leisure division has continued to strengthen.
Total transaction value for the first five months of the current financial year increased by 10% and gross profit by 15%. The division’s best performing areas are business travel and cruise, both of which are registering annual sales growth rates of more than 20%.
“The board is delighted by travel and leisure’s performance so far this financial year. It is clear that sales are rising and discounts falling, which is the virtuous circle we aimed to achieve,” said Egleton.
“Our confidence in the outlook for the current year is reinforced by that the fact that the results for February are better than the industry trend, with March reflecting even stronger growth.
“The travel and leisure business continues to offer good opportunities for expansion and the board will continue its buy-and-build strategy in seeking to acquire businesses that add value to our Stewart Travel brand.
“We are continuing discussions with a number of prospective acquisitions in the north of England and expect to be able to update the market in the coming weeks.”