Corporate Travel Management, which acquired Travel and Transport (T&T) in late 2020, has reported a half-year pre-tax loss of AU$47.5 million (£26.5 million) on revenues of AU$74.2 million (£41.4 million) for the six months ending 31 December. This compares to a pre-tax profit of AU$46.4 million (£25.9 million) on revenues of AU$222.3 million in the same period in 2019.
CTM managing director, Jamie Pherous, said: “We are in a good position to capitalise on a recovery in corporate travel activity. We are now very close to a break-even position with new client revenue momentum, and we remain most leveraged to the largest travel markets that are also the most advanced in rolling out vaccinations.
“Significant new client wins across all of our regions supported a better than expected first-half earnings result and have given us revenue momentum into the second half."
CTM said that there were signs of recovery despite the loss. December, typically the lowest activity month in the first half, showed the highest monthly revenue for the half year at AU$17.3 million (£9.7 million), which included the T&T contribution.
Pherous also said that technology spend was returning to pre-Covid levels.
He added, “The USA has surpassed 50 million vaccinations and the UK has surpassed 15 million. Both countries expect to have the high-risk segment of their populations vaccinated in this quarter, potentially allowing a relaxation in travel restrictions. Given 70 per cent of our pre-Covid revenue is derived from the UK and USA, we are well positioned for the incremental revenue gains from travel relaxations in these markets.”
CTM says it is looking at further acquisition and says it has no debt, AU$119 million (£66.4 million) cash and an undrawn, committed AU$178 million (£99.3 million) finance facility.
CTM, which acquired Chambers Travel and Redfern Travel in the UK in recent years, is helping the UK government manage hotel bookings for its new quarantine regime.