Simplified Saga makes solid start to year

(Sharecast News) - Saga reported a solid start to its financial year on Tuesday, with trading for the first four months to 23 June in line with expectations across all divisions.

The London-listed over-50s specialist, which was holding its annual general meeting, said it was on track to meet full-year targets, buoyed by strength in its travel and insurance businesses.

Cruise operations performed strongly, with booked load factors for ocean and river cruises ahead of the same period last year at 95% and 93% respectively.

The company also reported growth in per diems.

Holiday bookings were up 14% by revenue and 13% by passenger numbers year-on-year.

Saga's insurance underwriting arm, Acromas Insurance Company, continued to meet expectations as the sale of the business to subsidiaries of Ageas progressed.

Completion was on schedule for 31 July.

The group's insurance broking operation was also trading in line with forecasts, with the transition to a 20-year partnership with Ageas expected to conclude in the fourth quarter.

Saga also announced that it was in final negotiations with NatWest on a new banking partnership, initially covering savings products.

The deal would combine NatWest's banking infrastructure with Saga's customer insight and marketing reach.

Net debt stood at £569.5m as of 31 May, down from £622.7m a year earlier, with available cash of £96.7m.

"I am pleased to report that Saga has started the financial year on a positive note, with all our businesses performing well and in line with expectations," said chief executive Mike Hazell.

"Looking ahead, we are focussed on continuing to grow our travel and money businesses, while successfully transitioning to our new simplified insurance model.

"We are progressing well with our medium-term plans and the potential new partnership with NatWest is another good example of this."

Interim results for the six months to 31 July would be released on 24 September, Saga confirmed.

At 0927 BST, shares in Saga were down 0.6% at 170.58p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.

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