After a year of “strong demand” for travel, Helloworld Travel Limited (HLO) has released its full-year financial results for 2022/23, reporting an underlying (EBITDA) profit of $44.1 million. Compared to its $10.6 million underlying loss in the prior year, this represents a $54.7 million turnaround in fortune.
Total Transaction Value (TTV) for the Helloworld group was $2.57 billion, which represents a 138.5 per cent increase on the $1.08 billion TTV for the year before.
Elsewhere, total revenue grew by 139.5 per cent to $165.9 million ($69.3 million in FY22), while profit after income tax from continuing operations rose to $19.2 million from a $28.8 million loss in FY22.
Meanwhile, HLO forecasts underlying EBITDA of $64-$72 million for FY24 “subject to no materially adverse impacts on our business”. This equates to an increase of up to 63 per cent in underlying profit.
In a statement to the ASX, HLO said, “Strong demand from travellers, the removal of border restrictions and increasing supply and capacity; along our resilient retail network, expanding product portfolio and leading proprietary systems, underpinned Helloworld’s strong result in FY23”.
HLO added that “more travellers than ever” were now using local travel advisors, “with most agents across our networks reporting FY23 as a very busy year”.
It also said leisure-based travel had steadily increased since the pandemic, where VFR (visiting friends and relatives) had initially been “the predominant reason for travel”.
“Consumers have realised, because of the pandemic, the importance of having a trusted professional to support them with their travel experiences, a benefit that doesn’t always come with online or high churn travel retailers,” HLO stated.
“Booking volumes are expected to continue to improve as capacity returns to normal and Asia fully reopens.”
Acquisitions boost business
During the last financial year, HLO announced the acquisition of the Australiareiser Group, Phil Hoffmann, and Express Travel Group as well as an ongoing investment in its proprietary mid-office system (ResWorld) and other B2B technology solutions (Mango, ReadyRooms and Smart Tickets).
Helloworld Travel CEO and Managing Director Andrew Burnes AO said that after “the most challenging time in the travel industry, Helloworld has gone from strength to strength, delivering multiple profit upgrades and continuing to support our network members and customers”.
“Helloworld made several acquisitions during FY23 which will continue to support our growth into the future, and we have utilised our strong liquidity position to minimise dilution,” he remarked.
“Throughout the pandemic, Helloworld invested in technology and is continuing to invest to support our stakeholders and drive process improvement.
“This investment, together with our dedicated Helloworld team, network members, suppliers, and partners, will enable ongoing improvement to Helloworld’s profitability.”
In HLO’s annual report, HLO chairman Garry Hounsell praised the “extraordinary” resilience of the global travel industry, which “rang true throughout FY23”.
“The last half of FY22 saw the beginnings of the much anticipated rebound in global travel, with capacity, demand and prices all soaring compared to the previous two years,” he said.
“The financial year just finished was, like the previous year, a story of four quite different quarters. Each quarter reflected significant growth on the prior year as supply came back on-line and confidence improved.”
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