Flight Centre (NZ), the local arm of the Australian travel agent, has lifted annual profit 28 per cent in 2014 as more New Zealanders travel overseas.
Annual profit rose to $NZ7.66 million ($A7.13 million) in the year ended June 30, 2014, from $NZ5.97 million a year earlier, according to the company’s financial statements lodged with NZ’s Companies Office.
Revenue rose 5.9 per cent to $NZ132.8 million, of which $NZ91.4 million was commission and fees from the provision of travel.
Flight Centre Travel Group, its listed Australian-based parent, reported a 16 per cent drop in profit to $A206.9 millon in the year ended June, as it booked a $A61.3 million non-cash write down to its goodwill and brand names, according to its annual report released in August.
Earnings before interest and tax from its New Zealand unit rose to a record $A16m, eclipsing 2003’s peak, the report said.
Over that period about 2.24 million New Zealanders travelled internationally, up 4.5 per cent from a year earlier, according to Statistics New Zealand figures.
In October, Flight Centre said it expected to see the increase in Kiwis travelling abroad to continue, predicting UK and Europe travel to hit a record in 2015 as the Rugby World Cup lured New Zealanders to the Northern Hemisphere, while cheap airfares made it more attractive.
“We are seeing return airfares to London priced around $1650 per person and return to Europe from under $1500 per person,” Flight Centre GM of product, Simon McKearney, said in an October statement.
“This is exceptional news for Kiwi travellers, and in real terms, the cheapest pricing we have ever seen.”
BusinessDesk
