The Saga group confirmed on Thursday 9 April that their underlying profits before tax across its travel division had taken a hit of £1.8 million for the full-year to 31 January which took their figures from £21.6 million to £19.8 million.
Its cruise segment reported a £10.6 million profit which was up 54% from £6.9 million during 2018/19, a leap that was, in part, owing to the launchnof the first of its two new-build ships Spirit of Discovery in August.
The tour operator profits fell 37% however from £14.7 million to £9.2 million, with Saga citing lack of customer demand, most likely “due to the impact of Covid-19”.
“Bookings for cruise have been resilient in the current situation,” said Saga, reporting forward bookings for September to January 2021 so far achieving 66% of target revenue, and 16% of target revenue for 2021/22.
Saga has temporarily postponed marketing its 2021/22 season to new customers due to the coronavirus pandemic and the uncertainties that brings.
There is also uncertainty with regard to the delivery date for new ship, Spirit of Adventure as a result of the Covid-19 crisis, Saga expects the sister ship will be completed within the next 12 months. Saga stated that delivery of Spirit of Adventure, which was originally due this August, would “complete the transformation” of its cruise business.
Tour operator bookings for 2020/21 are reported as fallen by 34% compared to this time last year. “The tour operations business has had a more challenging year with weak customer demand, which has accelerated due to the impact of Covid-19,” said Saga.
“The group has continued the repositioning of the business to focus on differentiated products, with a need now to accelerate this transformation.”
Euan Sutherland, Saga Group chief executive, said: “The progress we have made during the year has been overshadowed by the ongoing concerns about Covid-19 and its impact on the whole of the travel industry.
“We have taken action to protect our customers and colleagues, including suspending our cruise business and tour business.
“We have also increased our operational resilience by accelerating our ‘smarter working’ programme for our colleagues to ensure we have the operational flexibility to react to disruption within the UK.”
