23 July 2008

Holidaybreak weathers crunch

Specialist holiday and activity group Holidaybreak is faring well but seeing a slowdown in its London hotel sales, according to an interim management statement.

The company described trading prospects for 2008 as Ã¢â¬Åâœbroadly satisfactoryÃ¢â¬~ with all divisions showing growth in current year revenues booked as at July. It says the group is now over all booked at 93% of target sales with year to date sales up 4% on last year.

The company has recently a refinance package and boosted its borrowing facilities.

Holidaybreak says hotel sales are up 3% but it has seen a marked slowing of intake in the UK, with London particularly affected. It forecasts softer leisure rates for the autumn, however, which should shore up numbers.

As the company this week launches its individual adventure travel arm Explore Tailormade, it reports sales in adventure travel up 3% on 2007/8. Camping sales are up 1%, which it regards as strong based on 5% lower capacity than last year, saying it has benefited from late UK sales at healthy yields.

Chief executive Carl Michel, said: Ã¢â¬ÅâœTo date, the current financial year is broadly in line with our expectations, though we still have some key selling weeks remaining. Looking forward to the next financial year, the general economic environment may be more challenging, putting further pressure on disposable incomes. However, I remain pleased that the spread of our businesses across different travel segments and in various European markets provides us with trading resilience. The groupÃ¢â¬â¢s two divisions which have visibility for 2008/9, education and adventure travel, are both demonstrating healthy trading.Ã¢â¬~

By Dinah Hatch