Bookings currently tracking at 95% of pre-pandemic levels.
Webjet Limited has just issued a trading update, with MD John Guscic predicting that the company will exceed its pre-pandemic earnings in the 2023/24 financial year, “well ahead of when the broader travel market is anticipated to return to 2019 levels”.
The company operates on a different financial year to most Australian listed entities, and will report its first half results in mid-November. Guscic said all three divisions of the business are profitable for the FY23 trading year to date, and the “cash surplus from operations is expected to be more than $100 million” for the six months to 30 September.
He said the WebBeds accommodation division has had an “exceptional northern hemisphere summer trading period,” while the Webjet OTA continues to increase its market share.
“Before COVID hit, Webjet was delivering $157.8 million in EBITDA…when travel stopped we did the hard work necessary to transform our businesses to ensure they would emerge more efficient, more profitable and with higher market share when travel returned,” Guscic said.
“We are now seeing our strategy play out,” he added.
More details in today’s issue of Travel Daily.