Flight Centre Travel Group (ASX:FLT) has issued its full year results for FY24 to the Australian Securities Exchange. Please click here for the full announcement.
Flight Centre Travel Group has delivered a AU$320 million underlying PBT for 2024 fiscal year (FY24) – the result is a 131 per cent increase on the AU$139 million FY23 and is at the mid-point of FLT’s guidance range.
Total Transaction Value (TTV) reached a record AU$23.74 billion, slightly above the AU$23.7 billion FY19 result and a circa AU$1.8 billion year on year increase, with both corporate and leisure businesses delivering more than AU$1 billion year on year growth, and corporate achieving another record.
FLT’s global corporate business delivered a 44 per cent underlying PBT increase to AU$211 million, with Corporate Traveller contributing a record profit.
Corporate TTV increased by 10 per cent to a record AU$12.1 billion, as the business finished the year about 35 per cent larger than FY19 in a sector that has only recovered to circa 80 per cent of the pre-pandemic activity levels (Source: MIDT).
Comments by Chris Lynes, Canada Managing Director, Flight Centre Travel Group:
“It’s been a promising year highlighted by growth and innovation for Flight Centre Travel Group in Canada. The continued success of our corporate and leisure divisions has enabled us to gain increased market share and strategically expand our footprint across the country.
“Throughout the last year, our business travel division Corporate Traveller has focused on streamlining operations and optimizing efficiency, which has allowed us to accelerate growth and further tap into Canada’s emerging SME market. We continue to win new business across a number of different sectors, while strengthening our relationships and driving value for our existing clients.
“At Flight Centre Travel Group, we pride ourselves on our commitment to innovation. We are always looking for ways transform the customer experience and reach the next generation of business travellers, which has led to mass customer adoption of our digital platform Melon. This past year, we also debuted an ‘AI Center of Excellence,’ a new global division designed to integrate artificial intelligence technologies into the operations of our business. The launch of our AI team is just another example of the way we prioritize innovation, keeping us at the forefront of the business travel industry for years to come.
“On the leisure side, we continue to broaden our network and increase our presence in key, priority cities through our flagship Flight Centre leisure brand, which helps to connect with and serve the broader travel market across Canada. We have also put plans in place geared towards capitalizing on the rapidly growing independent travel space through our Envoyage brand, the new global home for independent travel agents and agencies. With Envoyage already poised for growth in the year ahead, our renewed focus on the independent sector will set us up for even more success going forward.
“Given our recent momentum, along with our dedicated history of innovation, we are excited about the upcoming year and the future potential of the business in Canada!”
Comments by Chris Galanty, Global Corporate CEO, Flight Centre Travel Group:
“It’s been a robust year for the corporate pillar of the Flight Centre Travel Group with our flagship brands of Corporate Traveller and FCM Travel delivering record Total Transaction Value in a sector that has only recovered to circa 80 per cent of pre-COVID transaction volumes.
“This result has been driven by high customer retention rates and a large pipeline of new account wins, some of which have yet to be fully implemented, so we’ll see the benefits of these flow over the coming months once they begin trading.
“FCM Travel transaction volumes rose by 10 per cent year on year as the business continues to win and service large multi-national and enterprise-level accounts, while Corporate Traveller delivered a record profit globally, alongside winning managed and unmanaged SME and start-up accounts.
“Our blend of exceptional people and innovative technology continues to set us apart with both dedicated travel consultants and managers joining forces with the mass adoption of Corporate Traveller’s Melon online booking tool in the Northern Hemisphere and FCM Platform globally.
“We’ve continued to invest, and this year saw us launch our global corporate-specific AI Centre of Excellence that’s revolutionizing customer service, empowering our agents through smart automation, and is a key driver as we remain on track to deliver our Productive Operations project.
“We’ve also spent a lot of time in understanding the pain points of our customers and we’ve made significant investments to solve these problems – this has since allowed us to generate new revenue streams – meaning that we ultimately stay ahead of the curve.
“We’ve done an excellent job in building a solid foundation of stability, and as recent global industry-wide issues have proved, it always pays to have a travel management company on your side.
“The corporate arm of the Flight Centre Travel Group is a materially larger business than pre-COVID and we’re energized by the progress we’ve made in the Grow to Win space - and will continue to make - in productive operations in Flight Centre Travel Group’s journey to becoming a two per cent margin business.”