Corporate Travel Management counting cost of US tariff turmoil as businesses delay work trips

Corporate Travel Management says Donald Trump’s flurry of trade tariffs has cost the company $30m in earnings, as businesses go cold on work trips.

US tariff turmoil has been blamed for a $30m hit to Corporate Travel Management earnings, as businesses go cold on work trips until the economic uncertainty eases.

It’s the second travel company in a week to report falling revenue off the back of President Trump’s Liberation Day, imposing tariffs of 10 per cent on most imports into the US, and significantly more on goods from China.

An outlook update posted to the ASX on Friday, said Corporate Travel Management expected a $30m impact to earnings, with revenue expected to be 4 per cent softer than forecast.

The softening was attributed to “broad economic and tariff uncertainty in North America and Asia which had led to reductions in client activity”.

This had led to “slower growth than expected during what is traditionally the busiest time of the year”.

Flight Centre was seeing a similar slowdown, and updated its profit guidance on Monday with the warning tariff uncertainty could wipe as much as $105m from its bottom line.

Corporate Travel Management managing director Jamie Pherous. Picture: Liam Kidston

CTM managing director Jamie Pherous said the drop in revenue had “happened really quickly” with April worse than March but it should not be seen as “an annualised number impacting the business”.

“We’re pretty calm about this but at the same time, we’ve got to take a long-term view and be mindful the tariff uncertainty may be resolved during the US summer,” Mr Pherous told an investor call.

“It’s expected to be, but it might elongate. With the stroke of a pen it could all be over.”

He said companies impacted by tariffs were “sitting on their hands” until it was resolved, and then he expected travel would rebound.

“It can’t go on forever, usually these things are short,” Mr Pherous said.

“What we do know historically is that once it’s resolved, people don’t just wave a white flag, they adapt their business model for whatever that new environment is, and that’s heavily correlated to travel.”

CTM had been counting on a stronger second half of the 2025 financial year, after posting a 34 per cent drop in before tax profit to $52.4m for the first half.

Mr Pherous emphasised the strong position the company was in, with new client wins in the year to date surpassing $1.6bn, well ahead of the $1bn annual target.

About half of that had been generated in Europe, but two of the new clients had delayed travel plans from April to July.

In the event the uncertainty continued for longer than expected and led to a recession, Mr Pherous was confident CTM would manage and even prosper.

He said the company had been through three recessions and “grown in all three”, with the Global Financial Crisis the exception.

“We’re not a lone wolf here, everyone is being impacted by tariffs,” he said.

“What we can control we’re pleased with. We’re winning business, we’re still making profit, we’re still growing through this.”

Flight Centre also reported a slowdown in corporate travel bookings as well as leisure bookings, as consumers held off making large purchases until certainty returned.

CTM shares plunged 10 per cent when markets opened on Friday, and were trading 8.8 per cent lower at $11.86 in the afternoon.

Citi analyst Samuel Seow noted the material fall in stock and said the update was “not unexpected given US airline and other peer results”.

“Looking forward outlook remains uncertain for travel budgets, however commission tiers will reset to lower levels,” Mr Seow said.

Originally published as Corporate Travel Management counting cost of US tariff turmoil as businesses delay work trips