28th Nov 2018 08:30
LONDON (Alliance News) - On the Beach Group PLC on Wednesday reported a rise in profit in its recently ended financial year, helped by acquisitions and television advertising campaigns.
The online retailer of holidays said pretax profit for the year to the end of September rose by 24% to GBP26.1 million from GBP21.1 million the year earlier, as revenue grew by 25% to GBP104.1 million from GBP83.6 million.
Revenue in the core segment improved 9.0% to GBP89.3 million, with revenue per daily unique visitor increased by 8.5% to GBP1.27 from GBP1.17 the year previous.
In the international segment, revenue fell by 5.9% to GBP1.6 million, with the company blaming weak demand. On The Beach cited in particular warm weather in Scandinavia, which reduced the appetite for overseas travel.
The B2B segment generated revenue of GBP13.2 million, following the acquisition of Classic Collection Holidays in mid-August for GBP20 million.
"This performance was delivered despite the previously highlighted exceptionally hot weather that was prevalent over the summer in the UK and in the Nordics, which combined with the football World Cup, suppressed holiday demand," said Chief Executive Simon Cooper
Marketing expenses for the year declined slightly to GBP33.2 million from GBP33.5 million, despite increased spending on TV advertising campaigns to GBP4.1 million from GBP3.5 million year-on-year.
On the Beach proposed final dividend of 2.2 pence per share, taking the total payout to 3.3p, up 18% from 2.8p paid the year before.
Looking forward, the company said the first quarter of its current financial year is historically the quietest trading period.
"This current performance is in line with our expectations and the board believes the business is well positioned for the key trading period that commences in late December and continues into the first quarter of 2019," added Cooper.
On the Beach shares were trading 4.2% higher on Wednesday at 419.00 pence each.
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