Australia's Webjet hits over 3-year high on upbeat annual results

Web Travel

24/05/2023 02:49

May 24 (Reuters) - Shares of Webjet Ltd  WEB.AX  rose 6%
on Wednesday, hitting their highest level in more than three
years, after the Australian online travel booking company swung
to an annual profit and reported a more than two-fold jump in
revenue.
    The company reported underlying earnings before interest,
taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) of A$134.8
million ($91.43 million) for the 12-month period ended March,
versus a loss of A$15 million a year earlier. 
    The EBITDA was 8% ahead of consensus expectations, according
to brokerage Citi.
    Annual revenue surged 164% to A$364.4 million, Webjet said,
citing strong performance of WebBeds business - a marketplace
for travel trade - which contributed A$117.1 million to the
EBITDA. 
    Shares of the Melbourne-based company climbed as much as
6.2% to A$7.750, their highest since Feb. 27, 2020.
    The stock was the top gainer in the ASX 200 benchmark index
 .AXJO , which was down 0.3% by 0104 GMT. 
    "Stock has rallied into the result, however, we expect this
set of numbers should be strong enough to keep the momentum
going," analysts at Citi wrote in a note. 
    The company added that WebBeds bookings and total
transaction value for the first seven weeks of fiscal 2024 were
more than 35% and 40% higher, respectively. 
    Still, Webjet flagged that both its business-to-consumer
businesses, Webjet OTA and GoSee, continued to be affected by
airline capacity constraints and subdued demand.

     ($1 = 1.4743 Australian dollars)
    

 (Reporting by Himanshi Akhand in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry
Jacob-Phillips)
 ((Himanshi.Akhand@thomsonreuters.com;))