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On the Beach Group PLC on Wednesday said it recorded a third consecutive year of growth in its financial year ending next week, despite a continued trend for holidaymakers to book at the last minute. The Manchester, England-based online holidays retailer said adjusted pretax profit on a continuing basis, excluding business-to-business operations, is expected to be between £34.5 million and £35.5 million for the financial year ending September 30. The company is winding down its B2B segment, trading as Classic Collection, ‘to focus on the higher growth potential of the B2C business trading as On the Beach’, it said. The B2B area made ‘a small loss’ during the recent year, it said. On the Beach said market consensus of adjusted pretax profit is £38.4 million, including £2 million in profit from the B2B segment. Adjusted pretax profit was £31.0 million in financial 2024. Back in May, at its interim results announcement, the company had said it expected adjusted pretax profit to be in line with the £38.2 million market consensus at the time. In response to the guided profit miss, On the Beach shares were down 14% to 221.31 pence in London early Wednesday. They remain up 53% over the past 12 months, however. On the Beach said total transaction value of B2C holidays booked in the current financial year was up 11% from the year before at £1.23 billion. For financial 2024, On the Beach had reported £1.2 billion in TTV for the entire business, including B2B. It said summer 2025 bookings in B2C were 12% ahead of a year before and ahead of the overall UK package holiday market. Looking ahead, On the Beach said summer 2026 bookings ‘currently reflect the later booking trend as reported across the market, with bookings being made increasingly closer to the date of departure’. ‘It remains clear that customers are still prioritising their holidays with our winter [2025] bookings up 12% and we are confident that summer [2026] will continue to build, notwithstanding the later booking patterns,’ said Chief Executive Officer Shaun Morton. ‘The board and management team remain focused on delivering the group’s medium-term ambition of TTV of £2.5 billion, [earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation] of £100 million and adjusted pretax profit of £85 million, and I look forward to updating further at our final results in December.’ On the Beach said it will release its full financial 2025 results on December 2. The company also on Wednesday announced a further share buyback programme for up to £25 million, adding to the £30 million already returned to shareholders during financial 2025. On the Beach also said it has entered a new four-year credit facility of £120 million with Lloyds, NatWest and HSBC, with a £30 million accordion. This replaces the previous facility which was due to expire in 2027. Copyright 2025 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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