Flight Centre on track to beat guidance
Flight Centre is set to beat its profit forecast following strong trading in the final two months of the financial year.
The retailer upgraded its guidance in May with a pre-tax forecast of between $325 million and $340 million.
But Flight Centre this morning said its profits for the year ending June 30 are likely to be at the upper end “or slightly above” that estimate and shoiuld sit somewhere between $338m and $342m.
A PBT of $340m would represent growth of 17% on the $290m reported in 2012.
“When we upgraded our initial guidance in early May, we reported that our 10 countries were profitable and that several were on track for record results,” managing director Graham Turner said. “This positive momentum continued through the key May-June period which ensured that all businesses finished the year in profit (earnings before interest and tax) for the third consecutive year.
“Based on preliminary global trading results for the year we now expect an underlying PBT towards the top or slightly above our targeted range.”
Both Australia and the UK, Flight Centre’s major profit drivers, have “easily” surpassed their profit record, the retailer said, with Greater China and Singapore also achieving their best ever results.
Australia’s leisure sector performed well in the second half which “more than offset” a slightly softer domestic corporate market.
The US meanwhile, Flight Centre’s second largest country by sales, delivered its third straight year of profit and should finish “slightly up” on the $9.9m EBIT recorded last year.
“New Zealand, South Africa and India generated solid year-on-year growth while Canada and Dubai delivered healthy sales growth and were profitable,” Turner said.
But bottom line results were down on last year, he added.
Email the Travel Weekly team at traveldesk@travelweekly.com.au
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