Jamie Pherous pockets $31.5m in Corporate Travel Management share sale

Corporate Travel Management’s chief has reduced his stake in the company after it halted dividend payments amid the pandemic.

Corporate Travel Management CEO Jamie Pherous said the majority of his income is derived from dividends. Picture: Liam Kidston.

One of the nation’s richest tourism executives, self-made Corporate Travel Management founder Jamie Pherous, said he would retain more than 14 per cent of the company after offloading 1.5 million shares at a value of $31.5m overnight.

In a statement to The Australian, the Brisbane-based Mr Pherous said he sold some of his shares because the ASX-listed Corporate Travel Management has not paid dividends since October, 2019 given the business disruption due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mr Pherous said the majority of his income is derived from dividends and he retains a large shareholding of 19.24 million shares, or 14.1 per cent of the company.

This closely aligns his interests with Corporate Travel Management shareholders. Mr Pherous remains the largest shareholder in the company, according to a statement this morning.

Corporate Travel Management shares were trading 5.5 per cent lower at lunchtime on the back of the news, at $21.01 each.

Weak travel conditions have impacted sharply on travel companies and Corporate Travel Management posted a $15.7m loss for the half year to December 31, 2020 down from a $64.5m profit over the previous corresponding period. Mr Pherous said JobKeeper was contributing around $500,000 a month towards employment costs. Delivering CTM’s results last month, Mr Pherous said total transaction volumes had dropped 88 per cent while revenues and other income fell 67 per cent for the half year. But the company was picking up international work as other travel businesses folded.

Mr Pherous would not comment on what he planned to do with the $31.5m he has just pocketed.

The travel entrepreneur, who divides his time between Briabane and Noosa, is however in the midst of building a $20m four-level mansion in the trendy waterfront Brisbane suburb of New Farm.

Mr Pherous purchased the Moray Street site for $11.3m three years ago and was recently embroiled with the Brisbane City Council over the development of a swimming pool on the site. The matter has since been resolved.