Dart’s (DTG) leisure travel business boomed over its half-year, with revenues climbing nearly a fifth on the back of Thomas Cook’s exit from the market.
The momentum generated through the travel group’s leisure business, along with an imminent lucrative post-Christmas booking period, means that Dart now expects to significantly outperform its full-year expectations. The group has secured a 22 per cent rise on advanced sales to £1.2bn. The lift in Dart's overall profit “reflected a later customer booking pattern” in leisure travel, according to executive chairman Philip Meeson, who observed “customer demand strengthening throughout the summer season”. Thomas Cook collapsed in September, forcing the cancellation of around 800,000 trips. Dart, meanwhile, added 10 aircraft in the summer, taking its fleet to 100 planes.
While revenues surged, Dart failed to maintain operating profit margin growth. Its margin edged down two percentage points to 14 per cent, as the group failed to fully pass on costs linked to rising fuel prices and wage increases, while sterling depreciation also had a negative effect on unadjusted profits.
Broker Arden Partners forecasts March 2020 adjusted pre-tax profits and EPS of £201.5m and 111.1p, respectively, falling to £186.3m and 104p in FY2021.
| DART GROUP (DTG) | ||||
| ORD PRICE: | 1,443p | MARKET VALUE: | £2.15bn | |
| TOUCH: | 1,437-1,443p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 1,500p | LOW: 681p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 0.7% | PE RATIO: | 14 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 587p | NET CASH: | £674m* | |
| Half-year to 30 Sep | Turnover (£bn) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
| 2018 | 2.25 | 332 | 183 | 2.8 |
| 2019 | 2.62 | 340 | 187 | 3.0 |
| % change | +16 | +2 | +2 | +7 |
| Ex-div: | 24 Dec | |||
| Payment: | 3 Feb | |||
| *Excludes lease liabilities of £219m | ||||
