Flight Centre has reported underlying EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) of $301.6 million, which is a $485 million turnaround from an EBITDA loss of $183 million in FY22.
Notably, Flight Centre, which announced its FY23 results on August 30, revealed it plans to reinstate fully-franked dividends of 18 cents-per-share. It will be the first time it declares a dividend since 2019, or pre-COVID.
FCTG also recorded a $156 million operating cash inflow, which is a $257 million improvement on the previous financial year. It also revealed its total transaction volume (TTV) more than doubled year-on-year to $22 billion – the company’s second-strongest full-year result.
The company’s share price increased on the news initially, hitting $22.47-a-share, but has since lost steam and was trading below yesterday’s share price at the time of writing.
Related
In his column, Turner says the mass market Flight Centre brand was again leisure’s major profit contributor and has maintained high market-share in its key markets of Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.
“Following a major transformation, which was initiated prior to the pandemic and fast-tracked during the crisis, the leisure business now has a leaner cost base and a scalable brand and channel stable that has started to deliver meaningful TTV at improved margins.”
Turner told Forbes Australia earlier this year that he expects TTV to reach well over $24 billion next year.
Background
In January 2023, the company kicked off a $180 million capital raise to fund the acquisition of UK-based luxury travel group, Scott Dunn.
FCTG also told Forbes Australia it has reinvigorated its 2% profits-before-tax margin, a strategy that saw the company hit a 2018 share-price-high of more than $60. Turner also said the company will likely not be paying full tax for some seven or eight years due to the losses suffered during COVID.
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