Flight Centre Travel Group (ASX:FLT) has released its half-year results to the Australian Securities Exchange. FLT has achieved an AUD$117 million (approx. USD$76.4 million) underlying profit before tax (UPBT) for the 2025 fiscal year first half - the result represents a seven per cent year-on-year growth.
The corporate business delivered a two per cent increase on its strong FY24 H1 Total Transaction Value result and a four per cent UPBT increase to AUD$96 million during a short-term period of consolidation while the business embedded Productive Operations initiatives to help unlock a new era of more profitable growth.
Steve Norris, Flight Centre Travel Group Managing Director, EMEA said: “Business travel continues to be a necessity, rather than a luxury, for many companies – it’s one of the key facets for them to survive and thrive across the EMEA region and beyond. Corporate Traveller and FCM Travel are the gateways for businesses to grow and expand.
“The last six months of 2024 saw a huge step forward for our ‘Grow to Win’ model with productive operations and advancements within the AI space allowing for our people behind the scenes to have more time offering the best service to our clients, while streamlining the experience for customers.
“Further to this, we’ve achieved major systems migrations across Europe with upgraded systems now in full effect across phone, mid-office, and CRM usage.
“FCM Travel in the UK has been a highlight in the corporate space with stand-out growth – and we hit the milestone of more than 700 customers now actively using our Melon platform for Corporate Traveller UK.
“There’s also been a strong focus for our FCM Meetings & Events business, with accelerated growth in the UK, France, and Nordics. Further, the new arrival of Tiziano Galipo as Global General Manager, is set to galvanise the Corporate Traveller Stage, Screen & Sports business.
“The one thing that’s still our clear differentiator is that our company remains very much led by its people. AI, for example, is the vehicle for increased output and better, more streamlined operations, but our people remain the driving force behind the wheel.”
Chris Galanty, Global Corporate CEO, Flight Centre Travel Group said: “The corporate pillar of Flight Centre Travel Group has once again achieved a record Total Transaction Value (TTV) of AUD$6 billion in the first half of the fiscal year, taking overall recovery versus pre-COVID to over 140 per cent, in a sector that has not yet returned to pre-pandemic activity levels.
“One of the key drivers of this is the significant investment in our Productive Operations initiative to enhance the customer experience to unlock a new era of profitable growth. This, combined with our leveraging of AI, will deliver a forecast 15-20 per cent of productivity gains between FY24 and FY26.
“With Productive Operations, we’re building a single global operating system for both of our flagship brands that drives every activity through the right channel. This will lower costs, grow income, and delight customers through personal service and automation.
“When it comes to AI, our global Centre of Excellence continues to thrive and is at the very heart of the transformation we’re undertaking to automate the simple so that our people can do what they do best, offering excellent service before, during, and after a transaction.
“Looking ahead, we have a solid pipeline of new account wins coming on board to fuel future TTV growth, with over AUD$800 million worth of wins in the financial year to date with for FCM Travel.
“As for SME-specialist business Corporate Traveller, it has secured a large volume of smaller accounts, with our new client ‘stick rate’ aided by our rapid onboarding and follow-up.
“Our goal is for on-going growth and we’re doing this by successfully targeting specialist sectors, with Stage, Screen & Sports eyeing expansion opportunities under a new leader – with FCM Meetings & Events also having successfully re-launched globally, with further expansion coming soon.
“With Corporate Traveller’s Melon platform growing exponentially in the Northern Hemisphere, a continued increase of self-service through the FCM Platform and our investments in Productive Operations and AI, we’ll see even greater efficiency in the future.”
