Flight Centre’s corporate travel business is “deep into recovery” with transactions back up to 90 per cent of pre-Covid levels and its TMC brands “outpacing the broader industry recovery”.
The Australian-based travel giant, which owns business travel brands such as FCM and Corporate Traveller, said that its global corporate business had already seen total transaction value (TTV) exceed pre-pandemic levels to reach a new company record of AU$5 billion (€3.2 billion) during the six months to the end of 2022.
Flight Centre added revenue from its corporate brands was up to 88 per cent of 2019 levels with the expectation that TTV would exceed AU$10 billion (€6.4 billion) during its current financial year ending in June 2023, which would be another record figure.
The company added that corporate activity had “accelerated” from mid-January onwards, with record levels of TTV at FCM in the US and a “solid rebound” from China after the country reopened its borders at the start of the year.
Chris Galanty, global CEO of Flight Centre Corporate, said: “This unequivocal rebound reinforces the importance clients are placing on travel as a critical driver for economic success.
“As the global economy remains under pressure, the outlook for corporate travel is positive, evidenced by a robust performance to date.
“In the second half [of the financial year], we expect to benefit from further stability in global airline capacity and fares, coupled with strengthening of our regional performance, particularly in Asia where travel has recently resumed in markets like China.”
Flight Centre’s CEO Graham Turner added that it was “winning large volumes of new accounts because of its compelling FCM and Corporate Traveller customer offerings”.
The company said it had secured AU$1.25 billion (€800 million) in account wins during the previous half-year period, which were split between FCM (57 per cent) and its SME specialist Corporate Traveller (43 per cent).
“FCM’s wins typically came from competing TMCs, while Corporate Traveller won large volumes of business from competitors, disruptors and accounts that were previously unmanaged,” added Flight Centre in a statement.
Across all operations, Flight Centre Travel Group recorded TTV of AU$9.9 billion (€6.4 billion) for the half-year to 31 December 2022, which was a 203 per cent increase on the previous year, with revenue rising by 217 per cent to AU$1 billion (€640 million) over the same period.
The company made underlying ebitda (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) of AU$95 million (€60 million) during the half-year, which was “ahead of expectations”. Flight Centre is targeting ebitda of AU$250 million to AU$280 million (€160m-€180m) for the current financial year.