HRG has seen its half-year profits fall by 19 per cent due to weak markets in continental Europe and Asia.
The travel management and support services firm announced that pre-tax profits had fallen to £9.2 million during the six months to September 30, compared to a profit of £11.4 million for the same period in 2013.
HRG’s total revenue fell by 4 per cent to £162.3 million – down from £168.4 million last year – despite the “positive” trading environment in the UK and North America.
Although the company’s revenue rose by 2 per cent when currency changes were stripped out. HRG said this increase was mainly down to its new contract with the Canadian government.
HRG added that client travel spending was 6 per cent higher than last year while the number of transactions went up by 7 per cent.
Chief executive David Radcliffe said: “Whilst there have been and continue to be near-term challenges, we have made good progress during the first six months of the current year in delivering on our medium-term strategic priorities.
“Our client retention and new signings bode well for the future, as does our healthy new prospect pipeline.
“We expect market conditions to remain similar to the first half for the remainder of the year and for the full year we anticipate a performance in line with current market expectations.”
HRG noted that the pace of recovery in the UK corporate travel market had “slowed a little” during the last six months although bookings rose by 3 per cent year-on-year which the company said was mainly down to “new business wins during the second half of the last financial year”.