Corporate Travel’s positive outlook pleases market on back of profit plunge

Corporate Travel’s strong results in Australia and the US have overshadowed an overall drop in half year profit.

Corporate Travel has posted a 34 per cent drop in before-tax profit to $52.4m for the first half of the 2025 financial year, but forecast a strong second half due to stabilising ticket prices and new clients.

Revenue fell 6 per cent to $342.8m compared to the 2024 first half, and earnings before interest and tax were off 23 per cent to $77.4m.

The first half decline was attributed to problems in Europe, including reduced spending by the British government and extra staff for new clients onboarding in the second half.

Without Europe, the rest of the business achieved a 38 per cent lift in underlying earnings before interest and tax, led by a 53 per cent increase in Australia and New Zealand.

The improvement delivered $28.5m in earnings, and was underpinned by new client wins and returning customers, and the successful rollout of hotel content engine Sleep Space.

North America also performed strongly for the group, posting a 49 per cent jump in earnings, with the region expected to be the biggest contributor to second half results.

Corporate Travel Management CEO Jamie Pherous in Brisbane. Picture: Liam Kidston.

Corporate Travel managing director Jamie Pherous said North America, Australia and New Zealand were “leading the way”, with Europe also set for a strong finish to the year.

An unfranked 10c interim dividend was announced, down from 17c in the previous corresponding period, and the results showed Corporate Travel had bought back $52.3m worth of shares, from a previous $100m buyback.

“We continue to return capital to shareholders while preserving a debt-free balance sheet,” Mr Pherous said.

European revenue was expected to be down 24 per cent for the full year, but other regions including Asia would be up by 10 per cent overall.

Despite the drop in first half profit, Corporate Travel shares jumped 9.3 per cent in morning trade to a 10-month high of $16.40, and continued to gain ground.

At the close of trade on the ASX, CTM shares were up 10.3 per cent at $16.54.

Citi research analyst Samuel Seow said the strength of the Australian and US markets made the “misses” easy to digest.

“Pleasingly these segments have been problems in the past, so we estimate the market will take comfort from the momentum,” said Mr Seow.

“Overall, this is a strong result.”

Royal Bank of Canada analyst Wei-Weng Chen said the first half results were generally ahead of expectations but the full year earnings guidance was a downgrade.

Indicative targets for the 2026 financial year are more bullish, suggesting revenue growth of around 10 per cent and an earnings margin of 30 per cent.

Originally published as Corporate Travel’s positive outlook pleases market on back of profit plunge