Flight Centre Travel Group delivered higher than expected profits in the half year to December 2022.
The Australian company reported an almost A$280 million turnaround from a A$184 million loss in the same period a year earlier.
Flight Centre was profitable in both its global leisure and business travel divisions across all parts of the world apart from Asia which broke even during the half year.
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Sales recovery strongly with total transaction value up by more than 200% to almost A$10 billion – 80% of the record pre-pandemic result.
Its business travel arm delivered total transaction value growth of almost 150% to A$5 billion with the profits described as being ahead of expectations.
Leisure travel recovery “gained momentum” with total transaction value reaching A$4.4 billion – 44% of the group’s total and a strong increase on the 25% contribution a year earlier.
The company reiterated that its acquisition of luxury operator Scott Dunn earlier in the month would fast-track its growth in the sector in the UK, US and Singapore.
Group chief executive Graham Turner said the company had delivered a “solid start” to 2023 in an improved but not fully recovered trading environment.
“The sales momentum that helped drive our recovery last year continuing throughout H1, with TTV and revenue both tripling.
“In both leisure and corporate we are achieving our strategic objectives and laying foundations for more meaningful profit recovery in the future.
“Our corporate business is trading at record TTV levels – ahead of industry growth rates – and winning large volumes of new accounts.
“In leisure, our recovery is gaining pace, with the business generating 44% of group 1H TTV – a sharp improvement on its 25% contribution 12 months ago.
“Looking ahead, we expect further 2H recovery and we continue to target underlying ebitda [earnings] between A$250 million and A$280 million for the full year.
“While we continue to monitor market conditions, we are not currently seeing evidence that the recovery is slowing with the leisure business currently trading at post-Covid highs and corporate activity escalating after the traditional holiday period.
“This underlines both the significant pent-up demand that still exists in tis early recovery phase and the sector’s proven resilience.
“While travel is a discretionary purchase, customers typically view it as essential and prioritise it above other discretionary items, which is one of the reasons why the market typically grows year-on-year and why prolonged downturns in there sector are relatively rare.”
More: Flight Centre takes over luxury operator Scott Dunn for £121m
Flight Centre reopens Ealing Broadway store
Flight Centre to rebuild retail network after Covid closures