Flight Centre Travel Group profits take off

Big profits at Flight Centre Travel Group (FCTG) as the company reports a transaction value of $11.3 billion (AUD) for the first half of the fiscal year, representing a 15 per cent rise on the year before and its second-best start to a year ever.

The update, shared Tuesday (Feb. 27), marks significant growth for the global travel company.

Up 18 per cent year-on-year, leisure total transaction value (TTV) hit $5.2 billion AUD for the six months ending Dec. 31, 2023, while corporate TTV rose 16.8 per cent to a record $5.9 billion AUD, despite only 70 per cent of pre-pandemic volume returning to that sector.

According to a news release, Flight Centre achieved $106 million AUD in underlying profit before tax (PBT) for the half year to Dec. 31, which marks a $90 million AUD increase on the $16 million AUD it achieved in the previous year.

Underlying profit (before tax) for leisure totalled $60 million AUD, which doubled the $30 million AUD achieved in FY19, and signified a 30-fold increase on the $2 million first-half result achieved in FY23.

Underlying corporate profit before tax grew 53 per cent to $93 million.

“During the first half of the fiscal year 2024, Flight Centre Travel Group experienced significant growth, with our corporate and leisure sectors in Canada driving increased revenues. Notably, Corporate Traveller and Flight Centre have taken the lead, propelling our division to become one of the largest,” said Chris Lynes, Canada’s managing director of Flight Centre Travel Group, in a statement.  

“We've been actively laying groundwork for sustained growth, especially in sectors where we excel, streamlining operations and enriching customer value—our focus is on fully harnessing Canada's corporate and leisure travel potential.

“What's more, our dedication to innovation this year sparked the establishment of the 'AI Centre of Excellence.' This venture is transforming our corporate offerings with artificial intelligence and has strengthened our digital platform, Melon, accelerating growth and enhancing client interactions.

"We're tapping into the rapidly expanding independent leisure travel market—one of our most dynamic sectors in recent years. Our recent launch of our new Envoyage brand highlights the vital contribution we anticipate from our independent travel network to our evolving business model.

"Forward looking, with our consistent growth and innovative edge, we're poised to expand our market share across Canada, North America and, indeed beyond.”

Chris Galanty, global corporate CEO, Flight Centre Travel Group, added:

“These record results, built on high customer retention rates and large volumes of new account wins, were achieved in a sector that has only recovered to circa 70 per cent of pre-COVID transaction volume levels, pointing to our healthy market-share growth.

“At the end of January 2024, our corporate brands had secured new accounts with projected annual spends of circa $1.3billion, with FCM Travel typically winning customers from competitors, and Corporate Traveller securing a mix of unmanaged and smaller, managed accounts.

"We continue to make strides in the technology space with mass adoption of our Corporate Traveller Melon platform in the USA and Canada – with fast growth also being seen in the UK. FCM Platform has also seen successful growth with all existing customers anticipated to be migrated this year.”

“We’re also progressing our corporate AI Centre of Excellence and that has seen new features added to the suite of products already available that have improved the customer experience and increased our operational productivity.”

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