Travel management company CTM reported a 6 per cent drop in revenue to AU$342.8 million (€208.7 million) for the first half of its 2025 financial year, which ended on 31 December 2024, but the company expects “strong growth” in Europe in the next six months.
The Australia-headquartered company also posted a 23 per cent year-on-year decline in underlying EBITDA to AU$77.4 million, largely driven by "a significant decline" in ticket prices in Asia following an increase in airline capacity in the region.
In Europe, CTM reported half-year revenues of AU$56.5 million (down from AU$98.5 million reported in H1 2024) and underlying EBITDA of AU$21.8 million as its operations in the region “underwent a transitional phase, winding down one-off FY24 war-related project work”.
Revenue growth was further moderated, the company said, by reduced UK Government travel spend in 2024. However, this looks set to turnaround as the company noted in its H125 filings that it is now the sole provider of Lot 1 travel services for the UK Government, which was previously managed by a panel of three TMCs.
“At the time of the appointment, it was difficult to assess the incremental impact to the business given the UK government indicated a reduction in travel spend. It is now apparent that this will have a positive impact to the volume and scale of services we will provide into the future,” CTM said.
The company also expects further growth across Europe in the year's second half after winning “a record amount of corporate business” in the region.
During H125, CTM retained 97 per cent of existing clients and recorded new client wins with an estimated annualised total transaction value (TTV) of AU$600 million at 31 December 2024. As of 14 February 2025, new client wins had reached AU$880 million in TTV against a full-year target of $1.0bn, for which Europe and North America are the largest contributors, the company reported.
CTM managing director Jamie Pherous said: “Our largest regions of North America and Australia and New Zealand are leading the way and Europe is now set up for a strong finish to the year as we on-board new corporate clients.”
CTM’s operations in Australia and New Zealand reported revenue of AU$96.1 million and underlying EBITDA of AU$28.5 million, up 18 and 53 per cent, respectively. In North America, the company reported revenue of AU$159.9 million and underlying EBITDA of AU$30.5 million, up 6 and 49 per cent, respectively, spurred by the “rapid uptake” of its Lightning OBT among new customers.
Operations in Asia resulted in revenue of AU$30.1 million and underlying EBITDA of AU$7.7 million, down 7 and 15 per cent, respectively. However, the company noted that its customer base in the region is expanding, particularly in Hong Kong and Singapore.
CTM’s outlook for the remainder of 2025 remains positive, with a target to achieve 10 per cent revenue growth in FY2026. The EBITDA margin in Europe for the full year in 2025 is expected to remain strong at around 43 per cent, but lower than that previously indicated "due to the effect of reduced activity whilst we retain around 80 staff during this transition period".
CTM was ranked the seventh largest TMC in Europe in BTN Europe's Leading TMCs 2024 report.