(Alliance News) - SSP Group PLC on Monday reported a strong half-year, as the ongoing recovery in travel continues to help the firm move closer to its pre-pandemic performance.
In the six months to March 31, the London-based food and beverage outlet operator more than tripled its revenue year-on-year to GBP803.2 million from GBP256.7 million.
This was back to 64% of pre-Covid 2019 levels, it noted.
Given that its outlets are based in airports and train stations, SSP said the increase was driven by an increase in passenger numbers, led by leisure travel. The recovery of business-related travel has not been as quick as expected, SSP said.
Shares in SSP jumped 10% to 259.20 pence each in London on Tuesday morning. Its share price had dropped from north of 550p upon the outbreak of the pandemic in early 2020.
"This had been led by the Rail sector, at around 71% of 2019 levels, benefiting from a return to office working, as well as strengthening leisure traffic, with the Air sector, at around 62% of 2019 levels, boosted by an extended holiday season in the autumn across the UK, Continental Europe and North America," the Upper Crust food kiosk operator said.
Pretax loss was all but eliminated, to GBP2.3 million from GBP299.7 million a year before. On a pre-IFRS 16 basis, the underlying pretax loss was GBP55.3 million, narrowed from GBP182.0 million.
Net debt decreased to GBP1.15 billion from GBP1.48 billion, with GBP814.8 million in lease liabilities.
Due to agreements with its lenders, SSP is unable to pay dividends, unchanged from the previous year. The board will consider the best way to restart payouts and capital returns to shareholders when conditions allow, it said. SSP said net debt stood at GBP1.15 billion, including GBP814.8 million in lease liabilities.
SSP said trading since the period has made further recovery, reaching an average of 83% of 2019 levels. It anticipates sales to remain within a range of 80% to 85% of the 2019 levels, and to total around GBP2.0 billion to GBP2.1 billion for the full year.
SSP expects its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation margin to be between 5% and 6% in the remainder of the financial year.
"The business is recovering well from a hugely challenging period. We have seen a significant rebound in trade since the impact of Omicron, with revenues currently running at over 80% of pre-Covid-19 levels and with a similar proportion of our sites now open," said Chief Executive Officer Patrick Coveney.
"We anticipate a full recovery in leisure travel, which drives the majority of our business, and are confident that we are well-positioned for the months and years ahead."
By Elizabeth Winter; elizabethwinter@alliancenews.com
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