Almost twice as many sun-seekers booked their holiday with Jet2holidays last year, sending profits at owner Dart (DTG) skyward and the shares up 11 per cent. The holidays division made a pre-tax profit of £6.8m, up from £2.5m the previous year, and that increased demand meant the company's airline business Jet2.com made over a third more, too.
Current booking rates indicate this year will be even better. In fact, Dart is already the UK's third-largest tour operator and, with four extra planes in its hangar, it reckons it will double last year's 417,000 package holidays sold in the current period. It's also increased seat capacity at Jet2.com by 10 per cent, yet still managed to improve the load factor to 90 per cent. Capacity has been increased by a further 12 per cent this summer, too. Clearly, the sale of seats to Jet2holidays is a big help, and it now represents 17 per cent of scheduled flying during the period. So-called ancillary revenues are also up sharply, and an extra £3 per passenger from charges for things such as excess baggage, extra leg room, car hire and travel insurance, helped the division make £29.3m last year.
After upgrading forecasts, broker Canaccord Genuity now expects adjusted pre-tax profit of £43.3m for 2013, giving adjusted EPS of 23.1p (from £40.3m and 21.7p in 2012).
DART GROUP (DTG) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 240p | MARKET VALUE: | £348m | |
| TOUCH: | 239-240p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 246p | LOW: 70p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 0.8% | PE RATIO: | 11 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 129p | NET CASH: | £212m | |
| Year to 31 Mar | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 439 | 33.5 | 19.3 | 0.71 |
| 2010 | 435 | 22.2 | 11.1 | 1.11 |
| 2011 | 543 | 26.2 | 12.2 | 1.23 |
| 2012 | 683 | 28.1 | 16.0 | 1.32 |
| 2013 | 869 | 40.5 | 21.7 | 1.87 |
| % change | +27 | +44 | +36 | +42 |
Ex-div: 11 Sep Payment: 18 Oct | ||||
