Helloworld Travel has revised its full-year earnings guidance upwards despite experiencing a decrease in overall booking volumes. The ASX-listed agency group now anticipates underlying earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation to fall between $58 million and $62 million for the year. This is an increase from a previous forecast of $52 million to $56 million issued earlier this year, though still in line with the original forecast of $56 million to $62 million in February.
Helloworld Travel is a travel distribution company operating in the retail, corporate, and wholesale sectors. The company provides travel services through a network of franchised and company-owned travel agencies. The group attributed the total transaction value decrease to slightly fewer customers, a shift from expensive long-haul travel to more affordable mid-haul destinations like Japan, Bali, Thailand, and Fiji, as well as reduced average airfares, especially in premium cabins.
Despite this drop in activity, Helloworld has managed to offset the impact through increased margins, diligent cost control, and a revaluation gain on its stake in Webjet Group. Cruise bookings continue to perform strongly, and its Ready Rooms hotel business has seen a 110 per cent increase compared to the same period last year. The company also highlighted strong forward bookings extending into the coming year and a high network agent retention rate of 96 per cent.
Helloworld is scheduled to release its full-year results on August 26. Investors will be looking to understand how the company intends to maintain its improved earnings performance amidst the evolving travel landscape.
