REG - SAGA Plc - Trading Update

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RNS Number : 8010Q  SAGA PLC  29 January 2026

29 January 2026

Saga plc

Trading Update

Growth in underlying profit expected to be ahead of guidance

Significant strategic progress including launch of new Insurance partnership

Saga plc (Saga or the Group), the UK's specialist in products and services for
people over 50, provides the following update on trading for the period from 1
August 2025 to 28 January 2026.

2025/26 Outlook

·     The Group is expected to report an Underlying Profit Before Tax
that is ahead of the prior year, and an improvement on our half year guidance.

·     Ocean Cruise has continued to deliver an excellent performance, with
a strong load factor of 93%, a 2ppt improvement on the 91% previously achieved
in the prior year, and a per diem of £394, a 10% increase on the prior year.

·     River Cruise Underlying Profit Before Tax has also continued to
grow, benefitting from the launch of Spirit of the Moselle, achieving a load
factor of 89%, in line with last year, alongside a per diem of £349, which is
7% higher than the prior year.

·     Holidays is expected to report a stronger Underlying Profit Before
Tax than last year, supported by booked revenue growth of around 13% and
passenger growth of 11%. This performance reflects the positive impact of our
decision earlier in the year to consolidate our Travel businesses under one
management team.

·     Insurance Broking outperformed our expectations, with continued
growth in policy sales in three out of our four insurance products. Underlying
Profit Before Tax is now expected to be marginally higher than last year and
ahead of our expectations.

·     Trading EBITDA is still expected to be ahead of 2024/25.

·     Net Debt is expected to be marginally lower than the half year and
significantly lower than the prior year, an improvement on previous guidance.
This is supported by the strong trading cash flow and final proceeds from the
sale of our Insurance Underwriting business, which were higher than previous
guidance. Leverage is now expected to be below 4.0x. This excludes the £60m
received from Ageas in December as a result of the new partnership going live.
This receipt will temporarily further reduce Net Debt in the short term,
pending a corresponding unwinding of working capital in 2026/27.

·     In December, Saga Money launched a new and improved instant access
savings account as part of our new partnership with NatWest Boxed; further
innovative financial products are expected to be launched in 2026.

Looking ahead to 2026/27

·     The Ocean Cruise booked1 load factor is 70%, 3ppts ahead of the same
point in the prior year, and a per diem of £445, which is 13% ahead.

·     The River Cruise booked(1) load factor is 59%, 4ppts ahead of the
same point in the prior year, and a per diem of £367, which is 3% ahead.

·     Holidays booked(1) revenue is £132m, 5% ahead of the same point in
the prior year, and passengers of 39k, which is 1% ahead.

·     Insurance Broking Underlying Profit Before Tax is expected to be in
line with previous guidance, as the Ageas partnership becomes fully embedded
in 2026/27.

·     Following strong cash generation in 2025/26, the Group has passed
its peak leverage point, with further reductions in both Net Debt and
leverage, expected in 2026/27.

(1 )Bookings at 25 January 2026

 

Mike Hazell, Saga Group Chief Executive Officer, said:

"This has been a period in which we traded ahead of expectations, particularly
in Travel, delivered excellent financial results and continued to implement
our strategic plans. Demand for our Ocean and River Cruises continued to grow
and we saw a material increase in the number of customers taking our hotel and
touring holidays. Trading in our Insurance Broking business has also been
strong and ahead of expectations. The Group now expects to report an
Underlying Profit Before Tax ahead of the prior year, and an improvement on
the guidance we gave at the half year.

"Alongside this, we have made significant strategic progress. We have
simplified our Travel business under one management team, creating a single,
more efficient and customer centric operation. At the same time, we
successfully completed the sale of our Insurance Underwriting business and
launched partnerships with Ageas in Insurance Broking and NatWest Boxed in
Money.

"As we look ahead, we expect the momentum to continue to build in our Cruise
and Holidays businesses, while in Insurance Broking we expect Underlying
Profit Before Tax to be in line with previous guidance. We continue to make
progress against our longer term plans and are currently ahead of our expected
trajectory. We remain confident of delivering underlying profitability of at
least £100.0m, and leverage below 2.0x by January 2030."

The Group's preliminary results for the year ending 31 January 2026 are
scheduled for Wednesday 15 April 2026.

 

For further information, please contact:

 Saga plc
 Sharnj Sandhu, Interim Director of Investor Relations  Tel: 07522 985 207

 and Treasury                                           Email: sharnj.sandhu@saga.co.uk (mailto:sharnj.sandhu@saga.co.uk)

 Headland Consultancy
 Susanna Voyle                                          Tel: 07980 894 557
 Will Smith                                             Tel: 07872 350 428
                                                        Tel: 020 3805 4822
                                                        Email: saga@headlandconsultancy.com (mailto:saga@headlandconsultancy.com)

 

Notes to editors

Saga is a specialist in the provision of products and services for people over
50. Saga is one of the most recognised and trusted brands in the UK and is
known for its high level of customer service and its high quality,
award-winning products and services including cruises and holidays, insurance,
personal finance and publishing. www.saga.co.uk (http://www.saga.co.uk)

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