Peak reports financial "mixed bag"

Peak reports financial "mixed bag"
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Peak Adventure Travel Group has reported a mixed result for the 2012 financial year with overall growth failing to live up to expectations.

Chief executive Darrell Wade told Travel Today the growth had been “patchy” with some brands enjoying a solid year while others struggled to hit targets.

But the outlook for 2013 was strong, he said, with sales since the turn of the year rebounding well.

German giant Tui, which holds 60% of Peak with Intrepid Travel 40%, has not disclosed figures but Wade described the performance as a “mixed bag”.

“We are seeing sales growth but the year overall was a little less than we expected,” he said. “There is growth but it is patchy in terms of profitability. Some businesses were nicely profitable and hit budgets, other businesses weren’t.”

He declined to identify which camp its brands fell into.

The sales upturn since January will be reflected in the FY2013 results as most travellers who booked this year will travel after September 30, the end of Peak’s financial year.

“The nice thing is that since January we have really got back into growth mode,” Wade said. “We have probably been investing a little more on marketing and growing our distribution but I think it goes beyond that. We’ve got quite a few businesses that are up between 20% and 25% on the same period last year. That’s a big number.”

Intrepid itself had a “good” year, Wade added, with record numbers of people travelling in September.

“But margins have been under pressure,” he said. “There’s been more discounting than usual and the profitability has not been quite where we wanted it to be. But on the other hand it has stimulated growth so overall we are very happy with how it’s going.

“As long as you are getting growth and as long as you are profitable and everything is in order there’s not too much to be concerned about.”

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