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On the Beach returns to profit
On the Beach has reported a 776% rise in annual pre-tax profits despite a ‘particularly challenging’ year for the travel industry.
For the year ended September 30, the online group achieved pre-tax profit of £16.9 million, compared to a £2.5 million the previous year.
Group revenue rose 13% to £71.3 million.
Chief executive Simon Cooper said: “These results are testament to the strength and flexibility of our agile business model amidst difficult conditions in the travel industry.
"Using our scale to drive exclusivity, our technology to drive innovation and our financial strength, ATOL protection and strong consumer brand to drive customer trust, we are well placed to capitalise on the structural changes in the market which will only accelerate given the difficult conditions in the market this year."
Claiming to have a 20% share of the online short haul beach holiday market, On the Beach aims to become Europe’s leading online retailer of beach holidays.
Chairman Richard Segal said: "As widely reported, this financial year was particularly challenging for the travel industry, which had to adapt to terrorist attacks, the corporate failure of a large budget tour operator and the impact of currency fluctuations.
"Despite this difficult trading backdrop, On the Beach’s agile business model and focused approach enabled it to deliver adjusted underlying Group profit before tax performance of £21.3m which was ahead of market expectations and up 46.9% on the prior year."
"We expect and have planned for some of the key trends seen in FY16 to remain prevalent in FY17; namely the shift in demand from the Eastern Mediterranean, the overcapacity of seats versus demand on high volume routes leading to aggressive seat-only pricing and pressure on bed capacity in key Western Mediterranean destinations in peak periods.
"The Board also believes that some of the wider macroeconomic trends will lead to a shortening of lead times throughout FY17, similar to those witnessed in the lead up to summer 2016. Notwithstanding these conditions, the Board remains confident of meeting market expectations for the financial year and will provide a further trading update at our AGM on 2 February 2017."
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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