Flight Centre Travel Group releases full year results
Flight Centre Travel Group has released its full year results for 2024, delivering a AU$320 million underlying PBT for 2024 fiscal year (FY24) – the result is a 131% 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% underlying PBT increase to AU$211 million, with Corporate Traveller contributing a record profit.
Corporate TTV increased by 10% to a record AU$12.1 billion, as the business finished the year about 35% larger than FY19 in a sector that has only recovered to circa 80 per cent of the pre-pandemic activity levels (Source: MIDT).
Chris Lynes, Canada Managing Director, Flight Centre Travel Group, observed: “It’s been a promising year highlighted by both 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.”
Lynes pointed out that: “Throughout the last year, our flagship 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 several different sectors, while strengthening our relationships and driving value for our existing clients.”
And Lynes continued: “At Flight Centre Travel Group, we pride ourselves on our commitment to innovation. We’re always looking for ways to transform the customer experience and reach the next generation of business travellers, which has led to mass customer adoption of Corporate Traveller’s digital platform, Melon.”
He also pointed out that: “This past year, we also debuted an ‘AI Centre of Excellence,’ a new global division designed to integrate artificial intelligence technologies into the operations of our corporate 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.”
As for the leisure side, Lynes said: “Our plans are 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. Meanwhile, we continue to extend 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.”
Said Lynes: “Given our recent momentum, along with our decorated history of innovation, we’re excited about the upcoming year and the future potential of the business in Canada.”
Chris Galanty, Global Corporate CEO, Flight Centre Travel Group, pointed out that: “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.”
Galanty continued: “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.”
He said that: “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 Traveler’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.”
And he added: “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.”
Galanty concluded: “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.”
