SeaLink delivered a record sales result following acquisitions, and says its new CEO will start soon

SeaLink has had a solid year, but says the low Aussie dollar means there could be a rising tide for all tourism operators.

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SeaLink has delivered record sales and an improved underlying profit for the full year, and says the announcement of its new chief executive is “imminent’’.

The Adelaide-based tourism company posted sales revenue of $248.8 million, up 19.5 per cent, bolstered by the acquisition of the Kingfisher Bay Resort Group on Fraser Island and the new Bruny Island ferry service in Tasmania.

Underlying net profit was $23.4 million, up 6 per cent.

Statutory net profit was $21.5 million, affected by a $1.6 million writedown on the value of its stake in Adelaide-developed smartphone app UWAI - a 50 per cent writedown because the business “has not achieved the milestones set out in the initial business/investment case”.

SeaLink will pay a final, fully franked dividend of 8.5c per share, up from 8c.

Outgoing managing director Jeff Ellison said the new businesses bettered expectations, “as did many of our Queensland and Northern Territory operations’’.

“Some of our key tourism businesses were challenged by slower international visitor growth, a number of unseasonal weather events and consumer uncertainty in the lead-up to the May 2019 federal election.

“Although international visitor growth has slowed to 3 per cent year on year, SeaLink anticipates that the recent softening of the Australian dollar and improved exchange rate will make Australia a more attractive holiday destination for both international visitors and Australian residents.”

In South Australia SeaLink’s before tax earnings fell 6.6 per cent to $16.9 million, largely due to a challenging year for the PS Murray Princess.

The company’s Captain Cook Cruises business swung from a small profit to a loss of $1.1 million on revenues of $53.4 million.

“The decline in sales and EBIT was primarily attributable to lower chartering revenue from the Harbour City Ferries contract and a subdued economic environment,’’ the company said.

SeaLink said it would cease operations of its Manly to Barangaroo service which a strategic review found was unlikely to deliver sufficient returns. In Queensland underlying EBIT declined by 8.6 per cent to $20.2m in 2019.

“Fraser Island traded well, with total revenue growth of 3 per cent on the previous corresponding period. Our Fraser Island operations contributed sales of $54.1m and EBITDA of $8m.’’

Overall the company said it was “positioned to improve upon its 2019 full year underlying net profit after tax result, assuming average seasonal and current business conditions remain.’’

SeaLink shares fell 2.6 per cent to $3.52. The stock hit a 12-month high of $4.33 in November.