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Hogg Robinson reports UK recovery
Growth in the UK and North America helped Hogg Robinson Group grow pre-tax profits by 3% to £35.8 million in the year to March.
The travel management company said the recovery in the UK corporate travel market continues, with travel spend up by 11% and activity ahead by 15% compared to last year.
“As global activity broadly strengthened during the year, led by advanced economies, we saw continued and accelerating growth in the UK and North America, where client activity and travel expenditure were ahead of prior year,” said chief executive David Radcliffe.
But he added: “The pattern in other markets was less consistent. Some showed growth while others remained similar to last year or weakened slightly.”
Overall, client travel activity grew by 8% year-on-year while travel spend was ahead by 3% or 5% at constant currency.
HRG reported a 1% fall in revenue to £341 million, unchanged at constant currency.
Underlying operating profit rose 1% to £49.3 million, up 2% at constant currency, while underlying operating profit margin rose from 14.2% to 14.5%.
“Business mix, specifically lower fees associated with clients migrating to online self-booking, coupled with strong competitive pricing, resulted in downward pressure on our top line,” said the group.
“The ongoing trend towards online self-booking of travel by clients continues as predicted and also results from our efforts to reduce the cost of travel and related expenditure for our clients.”
The TMC said the increasing adoption of online self-booking had led to further cuts to staffing levels and other operating costs during the period, including the closure of a number of service locations mainly in the Nordic countries and in continental Europe.
“This had a positive effect on our bottom line and we continue to see cost opportunities in the business as we adapt to the changing dynamics of the industry,” it said.
In the UK, the proportion of travel self-booked by clients online has risen from 43% to 50%.
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Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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