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On the Beach Group PLC on Tuesday declared a final dividend and launched a £25 million share buyback, as cash piled up thanks to a near doubling in annual profit. On the Beach shares were up 17% to 201.50 pence on Tuesday morning in London. The stock is up 72% in the past 12 months. The Manchester, England-based online beach holidays retailer said it is debt-free and has about £96 million in cash. The company declared a 2.1 pence per share final dividend for a full-year payout of 3.0p, compared to none previously. The share buyback, worth up to £25 million, was started on Tuesday and will be completed by March 31. It will be run by brokers Peel Hunt LLP and Numis Securities Ltd. On the Beach said pretax profit was £26.5 million in the financial year that ended September 30, up 84% from £14.4 million in financial 2023, as revenue grew by 14% to £128.2 million from £112.1 million. Total transaction value was £1.2 billion, up 15% from £1.0 billion in financial 2023. Adjusted pretax profit was £31.0 million, up 25% from £24.8 million. Looking ahead, On the Beach said TTV is up 14% so far in financial 2025, with bookings up 15%. Bookings so far for Winter 2024 are up 25% on a year before. ‘Current trends and strategy give us confidence that Summer ’25 will be significantly ahead of Summer ’24,’ the company said. It added it is confident of achieve adjusted pretax profit in financial 2025 in line with market consensus of £37.9 million, which would be up 22%. On the Beach noted that during financial 2024, it signed a ‘transformational’ partnership agreement with Ryanair Holdings PLC. It said this is ‘improving OTB’s customer experience, simplifying operations and enhancing scalability.’ Copyright 2024 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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