3rd Dec 2024 11:50
(Alliance News) - On the Beach Group PLC on Tuesday declared a final dividend and launched a GBP25 million share buyback, as cash piled up thanks to a near doubling in annual profit.
On the Beach shares were up 17% to 201.50 pence on Tuesday morning in London. The stock is up 72% in the past 12 months.
The Manchester, England-based online beach holidays retailer said it is debt-free and has about GBP96 million in cash.
The company declared a 2.1 pence per share final dividend for a full-year payout of 3.0p, compared to none previously. The share buyback, worth up to GBP25 million, was started on Tuesday and will be completed by March 31. It will be run by brokers Peel Hunt LLP and Numis Securities Ltd.
On the Beach said pretax profit was GBP26.5 million in the financial year that ended September 30, up 84% from GBP14.4 million in financial 2023, as revenue grew by 14% to GBP128.2 million from GBP112.1 million.
Total transaction value was GBP1.2 billion, up 15% from GBP1.0 billion in financial 2023. Adjusted pretax profit was GBP31.0 million, up 25% from GBP24.8 million.
Looking ahead, On the Beach said TTV is up 14% so far in financial 2025, with bookings up 15%. Bookings so far for Winter 2024 are up 25% on a year before. "Current trends and strategy give us confidence that Summer '25 will be significantly ahead of Summer '24," the company said.
It added it is confident of achieve adjusted pretax profit in financial 2025 in line with market consensus of GBP37.9 million, which would be up 22%.
On the Beach noted that during financial 2024, it signed a "transformational" partnership agreement with Ryanair Holdings PLC. It said this is "improving OTB's customer experience, simplifying operations and enhancing scalability."
By Tom Waite, Alliance News editor
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