1H23 Results: Webjet Limited Returns to Pre-Pandemic Bookings.

Key Metrics. Bookings, TTV, Revenue and EBITDA all up significantly compared to the same period last year.

“Recovery is substantially accelerating and WebBeds is leading the charge…”

Commenting on the result, Webjet Limited’s Managing Director John Guscic said:

“This result demonstrates a spectacular turnaround of $88.4 million in underlying EBITDA from the 1H22 loss of $15.9 million. It underpins the efforts we took as soon as the pandemic hit to ensure each business was optimally positioned to recapture demand once travel returned. Recovery is substantially accelerating and WebBeds is leading the charge. All WebBeds regions saw significant organic growth, particularly Europe which benefited from a strong northern hemisphere summer, and North America which is now more than three times larger than it was when the pandemic began. Search activity and conversions through the WebBeds platform continue to increase, and EBITDA margins are now higher than they were pre-pandemic. Despite a number of large markets yet to open, since May 2022 WebBeds bookings have exceeded what they were before the pandemic hit and profitability is getting close to pre-pandemic levels.”

Outlook.

WebBeds is on track to exceed pre-pandemic profitability in FY23, with 2H23 EBITDA expected to exceed pre-pandemic levels by at least $10 million. 2H23 profitability for the B2C businesses (Webjet OTA and GoSee) are expected to be consistent with 1H23 results, reflecting the macroeconomic environment.

Commenting on the outlook, John Guscic said:

“It is exciting to see the Company emerge from the pandemic more agile, more efficient and better placed to deliver growth than ever before.

The landscape has changed and there is massive global opportunity for WebBeds. WebBeds is no longer European summer centric – it is now a truly global business, picking up share in all regions, operating a single technology platform, and with the capability to scale rapidly. We believe these qualities overcome the current macroeconomic pressures. 3Q23 Bookings and TTV are currently tracking more than 30% ahead of pre-pandemic levels and FY23 EBITDA is expected to be higher than it was pre-pandemic.

Webjet OTA has been recognized as the “world’s leading online travel agent” 2 and has increased its market share by 57% since the pandemic began. Trip Ninja went live on the webjet.com.au site in October and we believe the technology offers enormous potential to increase our share of the international flights market. Demand for travel is strong and restoration of airline capacity will be the driver of pre-pandemic profitability for the Webjet OTA business.

The GoSee rebrand is progressing well and we are confident it will exceed pre-pandemic profitability in the medium term. Profitability for that business is highly linked to the reopening of international borders to inbound tourism.”

You can find all related documents on the ASX Releases page of our Investor Centre website, with some key documents and commentary below.