Helloworld profit soars to $30.7m as travel industry returns to pre-COVID flight path

The Melbourne-headquartered group, with 900 staff and its network of 2,700 agents and brokers, saw a 20 per cent increase in air tickets sold in FY24 as total transaction value (TTV) grew by 62.5 per cent to $4.2 billion.

Net profit after tax (NPAT) rose by a similar percentage of 60.2 per cent to $30.7 million with Helloworld reporting all geographic segments as profitable, particularly for its home base of Australia and New Zealand.

"Our underlying EBITDA as a percentage of revenue continues to improve as the group benefits from its focus on profitable revenue streams, cost control and improved productivity," CEO Andrew Burnes says in the company's annual report.

"During FY24 we saw a move toward the pre COVID-19 cycle and seasonality within our results, with quarters one and four being stronger than quarters two and three.

"Prior to 2020 this was the pattern across our business and it is the first time we have seen this since FY19."

Burnes notes that towards the end of FY24 travel numbers in and out of Australia were sitting at 90-100 per cent of pre-COVID levels, and slightly lower in New Zealand at 85-95 per cent on FY19.

"We are committed to the long-term future of travel agents and brokers and can see first-hand the demand for these services shows no signs of lessening," he says.

"The outlook for Helloworld Travel Limited is very positive. Our diversified business model allows us to remain focused on growing our TTV at profitable margins while carefully controlling our costs."

He says the group has invested in technology and innovation across its proprietary systems during the year, including in its in-house retail mid-office solution known as Resworld which is currently deployed in over 170 agencies across Australia and New Zealand with 800 registered users. Burnes expects this number would more than double over the next 12-18 months.

He adds that the group's Air Tickets booking system remains at the forefront of ticketing and consolidation offerings, while wholesale hotel solution ReadyRooms is seeing ongoing growth in users and sales.

"It currently features over 300,000 hotels, activities and transfers, providing travel agents with a cutting-edge booking portal," Burnes says of ReadyRooms.

"We have enhanced our wholesale and inbound Travel Agent Booking Platforms via Mango (Australia) and GoNet (New Zealand) by creating easier navigation tools and improvements to the payment gateways.

"Technology developments across these systems are instrumental in our distribution of products and services to our extensive networks of travel industry stakeholders, including our agents and brokers throughout Australia and New Zealand with enhancements specifically tailored to create efficiencies and increase productivity and profitability for their businesses."

The group notes continued investments in short- and long-term growth initiatives, including the resumption of marketing campaigns in Australia and New Zealand.

Burnes also highlights the successful integration of the ETG businesses after the transaction was completed in August last year, while the 40 per cent stake in Phil Hoffman Travel "has also performed very well throughout FY24".

Investments like Phil Hoffman Travel and Helloworld's 50 per cent stake in Mobile Travel Agents (MTA) helped drive the share of profits from equity accounted investments up by 145.2 per cent to $4.9 million.

Meanwhile, the company's Entertainment Logistix business, Australia’s largest provider of specialist transport and logistics services to the entertainment industry, reported a 29 per cent decline in revenue to $17.1 million and underlying EBITDA of $1.2 million.

HLO shares were up 1.75 per cent at $2.33 this morning at the time of publication.