Package holiday provider On the Beach said it enjoyed a record year of bookings as travel demand soared over the summer.
The Manchester-based firm hauled in £1.2bn from holiday bookings in the 12 months ending 30 September, a 15 per cent jump compared to last year and its best-ever total
On the Beach told markets the performance had been “underpinned” by 13 per cent volume growth over the peak summer trading period.
Adjusted pre-tax profit fell in line with market expectations, coming in at £31m.
“Summer 24 has set a new record for On the Beach and our full year performance represents the third consecutive year of revenue growth while delivering improved operating leverage, resulting in significant growth in earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) and pre-tax profit,” Shaun Morton, Chief Executive of On the Beach, said.
The results are yet more evidence that a two-year boom in travel demand is set to continue. A downbeat update from low-cost giant Ryanair over the summer had raised concern over lower ticket fares and a tail-off at some of Europe’s biggest airlines.
On the Beach also said it had seen higher booking volumes for the coming winter, which are currently 34 per cent ahead of the prior year. Bookings for summer 2025 are “very encouraging,” it added, despite being still in the early stages.
Such a strong performance from the London-listed company enabled the reintroduction of an interim dividend in May and it intends to recommend a final dividend for the full-year.
On the Beach announced a partnership with Ryanair in February, following a protracted dispute with the carrier over how it markets flights. It said profit had been hit by “significant one-off costs” associated with the agreement.
“We executed on a number of strategic initiatives during the year, including the successful integration with Ryanair, the launch of selling package holidays in Ireland and continued enhancements to our platform capabilities,” Morton said.
“We did this through a period of flight price inflation and subsequent deflation, highlighting the benefits of On the Beach’s asset light, low fixed cost operating model, delivering the best value for money to our customers reflected in our volume growth this year.”