On the Beach set for international expansion

ONLINE travel agent On The Beach is looking at international expansion as part of the next phase of its growth plan.

Founder and chief executive Simon Cooper told TheBusinessDesk.com that launching international websites – which would be supported from its North West base in Cheadle – are on its agenda.

“We have a flexible platform and part of our short term agenda is to look at sites in a number of new territories, and we are putting some more spend into it.”

He said the first overseas site would be in Scandinavia as consumers there are well acquainted with buying holidays online, as opposed to Germany, where although the economy is robust, holiday bookings are still made in a traditional manner.

The company has just reported strong annual results, which showed sales and profits bouncing back after a torrid 2011 when its business was hit by the Arab Spring.

Investment in technology and an improved customer offer drove revenues up 70% in the year to the end of September from £138.8m to £230.9m. In line with such growth, gross commission was up 77% from £17.7m to £31m.

This fuelled a turnaround in fortunes as an operating loss of £1.3m in 2011 became a £5.6m profit, After interest payments of £4m, the group made a pre-tax profit of £1.5m, compared with a loss of £5.3m the previous year.

Mr Cooper said despite the tough economic backdrop, the strength of the pound against the euro had helped bookings increase.

“Spain, the Spanish islands and Turkey all saw strong growth, Egypt has come back strongly after last year, while Greece is still recovering and is not back to where it was before the recession.”

Four months into the new financial year he said the business was seeing “good growth so far”.

Asked about  reports that private equity backer ISIS is seeking an exit and has appointed corporate finance advisers, Mr Cooper said: “Yes, we are working with DC Advisory and looking at our options. That is not to say anything has been lined up – we’ve not even begun a formal process.”

Reports in the trade and financial press suggest a sale could valeu On The Beach at between £80m-£100m