Flight Centre Travel Group releases its full-year FY24 results to the ASX

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 Victoria Courtney, New Zealand Managing Director, Flight Centre Travel Group:

“Flight Centre Travel Group New Zealand had a strong financial performance for FY24. Despite high living costs and relative belt tightening from the New Zealand government, Flight Centre New Zealand continued to significantly contribute to overall profit growth for the AU/NZ region.

“Leisure travel demand remained steady. We’ve grown our red and white physical footprint – opening three new Flight Centre stores with more underway for FY25. We’ve also seen significant growth in the digital space with an increasing number of customers booking through the Flight Centre website.

“Our luxury brand, Travel Associates, has also increased its footprint with the opening of its Mt Eden, Auckland store, as well as a successful recruitment drive with an almost 50 per cent growth in advisor numbers - with similar recruitment expectations for FY25. Travel Associates New Zealand continues to contribute to the region’s strong performance with its high-end offering.

“We’ve launched our new Envoyage brand to encompass the independent network and continue to take on experienced and passionate agents. The independent arm of the business continues to thrive, having delivered incredible growth for FY24.

“Travel Money NZ is now trading from nine locations, with extensive expansion plans for FY25. The return of this brand has been well received by the market with trading results exceeding expectations.

“The corporate arm of Flight Centre Travel Group continues to perform well as travel remains critical for the success of many New Zealand businesses.

“Our flagship corporate brands – FCM Travel and Corporate Traveller - have been successful in securing new business and continue to enjoy outstanding business retention rates, contributing to a solid performance.

“With improved economic confidence expected for FY25, combined with increased airline capacity, more typical, seasonal demand and thus more competitive airfares – we’re looking forward to another year of strong financial performance.

“At Flight Centre New Zealand, we continue to have outstanding employee retention and have a team of experienced travel experts who thrive off creating incredible travel experiences for our customers. We pride ourselves on opening up the world for those who want to see.”

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 revolutionising 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 energised 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.”