On the Beach cautious despite solid first half
On the Beach says it remains cautious despite achieving a solid first half.
The online travel agent reported a rise in pre-tax profits from £10.6 million to £11.9 million for the six months to March 31.
Revenues rose from to £45.1 million to £63.5 million for the same period.
Chief executive Simon Cooper said the solid performance came ‘despite continuing uncertainties around Brexit’.
He said ‘modest’ booking and revenue growth was supported by the ‘ongoing benefits of improved marketing efficiency’.
"This performance has been delivered against a soft background market, particularly in the important first calendar quarter, when uncertainties regarding Brexit impacted consumer appetite for booking holidays," he said.
"Independent market data shows that a significant proportion of consumers deferred their holiday purchase in the run up to the 29 March deadline and our understanding is that the background market has been trading down 10% year-on-year in 2019.
"Looking forward, we continue to remain cautious of the consumer environment until a Brexit resolution is found, but the resilient and flexible nature of our business model allows us to focus on profitable growth and gives us confidence in the Group’s outlook. We will continue to evaluate opportunities to enhance our market share position."
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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