Flight Centre Travel Group (FLT) has released its 2023 fiscal year (FY23) 1H accounts.
As foreshadowed in FLT’s January 31 trading update, the company delivered higher than initially expected underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) of $95 million for six months to December 31, 2022.
For the full statement to the ASX, CLICK HERE.
Comments by Chris Galanty, Global CEO, Flight Centre Corporate:
“Worldwide, our global corporate business is deep into recovery with record 1H TTV – almost 150 per cent growth on the FY22 1H result – outpacing the broader industry. This unequivocal rebound reinforces the importance clients are placing on travel as a critical driver for economic success.
“Our winning growth strategy combines COVID-period investments in new FCM and Corporate Traveller platforms, compelling customer offerings and improved distribution capabilities through our TP Connects platform. We’ve also concentrated on our people, prioritising recruitment, training, and development so we’re fully equipped to help clients navigate and minimise frictions in a more complex travel environment.
“This approach has given us a distinct competitive advantage and enabled our duo of category-leading brands to boost market share by retaining, winning, and implementing a larger volume of business – some not yet fully reflected in our FY23 1H results.
“As the global economy remains under pressure, the outlook for corporate travel is positive, evidenced by a robust performance to date. In the second half, we expect to benefit from further stability in global airline capacity and fares, coupled with strengthening of our regional performance, particularly in Asia where travel has recently resumed in markets like China.
“While there may be further challenges ahead, our ability to flex and adapt means our corporate business is well placed to benefit and keep pace in the year ahead.”
Comments by Melissa Elf, ANZ Managing Director, Flight Centre Corporate:
“It’s been a really encouraging first half of the financial year for our corporate divisions of FCM Travel, Corporate Traveller, and Stage and Screen, with corporate outpacing the industry recovery with a record 1H23 TTV – and we’re on track to deliver a record FY23 TTV.
“Our global ‘Grow to Win’ strategy is full steam ahead in Australia and New Zealand and this has seen us continue to gain market share through high customer retention rates and a large volume of new account wins for both the SME sector and our large market pillars.
“Our corporate business is set to benefit from new accounts won and the onboarding of these. With onboarding specifically, some of our recent wins are still in the process of being implemented and are not fully reflected in our 1H23 results.
“There are several positive trends on the horizon for the second half of the financial year, being led by the reopening of Chinese borders. We proudly manage the majority of top universities and it’s been incredibly exciting to see our future doctors and scientists landing back on our shores.
“The other is the comeback of meetings, conferences, and events. Our FCM Meetings & Events team recently announced that significantly more events are being planned for this year than in 2019 – with the resurgence of face-to-face leading to a 75 per cent drop in interest for virtual and hybrid conferences in 2022.
“Couple these with the growth in the sporting, TV, movie, arts, culture and music industries managed by our specialist Stage and Screen division, and there are many reasons to be positive around the outlook of corporate travel for the second half of the financial year across the Tasman.”
