Dart Group's annual revenue jumps, confident of beating expectations in 2016

(ShareCast News) - Leisure travel, distribution and logistics provider Dart Group saw its annual underlying pre-tax profit surge on the back of improved revenue and said it was confident to beat expectations for the current financial year.The AIM-listed company said its underlying pre-tax profit, which excludes a £17m exceptional charge it booked in the year related to possible passenger compensation for historical flight delays, rose 35.9% year-on-year to £57.2m.Including the one-off charge, pre-tax profit declined 4.5% to £40.2m.Group revenue rose by 12% year-on-year to £1.25bn, boosted by a strong performance in its leisure travel business, where revenue increased by 14%.The division saw an 8% increase in the number of passenger Dart flew over the year, in line with its increased seat capacity, while the number of package holiday customers rose by 20%, the company said on Thursday.However, revenue in the distribution and logistics arm fell 0.97% to £151.7m.The company has lifted its final dividend payout by 5.1% to 2.25p per share,bringing its total dividend for the year up by 9% to 3p.Dart added it has started the 2016 financial year well and it expects it will exceed current market expectations for the full year.Dart shares were up 3.43% to 430.25p at 08:54 on Thursday.