City round up: On the Beach; McBride; Victorian Plumbing,
An investment in technology has helped online travel business On the Beach expand into offering city breaks as well as beach holidays and the company expects to make “adjusted” profit before tax of £38.2m for 2024.
In a trading update this morning the Manchester-based business said it had enjoyed “another record year” in 2024 with total transaction value of holidays sold through the company increasing by 10% year-on-year with Winter 24/25 up 18% and booking for summer 2025 up 10%.
The statement also said On the Beach’s operating model means it has no committed inventory to fill, which mitigates wider inflationary macro pressures experienced across the travel sector.
Investment in technology enabled On the Beach to into city packages at the end of 2024, and is now taking bookings to over 70 city destinations. International expansion through the sale of package holidays from the Republic of Ireland has also made good progress since launch, supported by its first targeted marketing campaign in January 2025.
Shaun Morton, Chief Executive of On the Beach Group said: “I am pleased to report double digit Group TTV growth with new and existing customers trusting On the Beach to help them holiday better and reflecting the strength and breadth of our holiday proposition.
“I am really excited by the progress we have made following the recent launch of our strategic growth initiatives focused on selling City packages and package holidays from the Republic of Ireland. Demand for Cities has been strong with routes to Amsterdam, Paris and Krakow proving particularly popular with both existing and new customers. Similarly, our first marketing campaign in the Republic of Ireland has generated strong bookings growth across both City and beach.
“The success of these early-stage strategic initiatives combined with the growth in our core beach proposition give me the confidence that Summer 25 will be significantly ahead of Summer 24 and the Group will deliver FY25 Adjusted PBT in line with market expectations.”
Following the launch of its £25m share buyback programme in December 2024, On the Beach has acquired 6,575,377 shares and completed 64% of the buyback programme.
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“Excellent” half year results, in which revenues and profits rose, will enable Manchester-based manufacturer and supplier of private label cleaning products, McBride, to reinstate its annual dividend.
The group published unaudited results for the six months to December 31, 2024 today which revealed sales of £471.4m, up from £468m a year ago, and pre-tax profits of £25.7m, compared with £17.4m previously.
Net debt also fell 28.1% to £117.6m.
All five divisions delivered profits during the reporting period and the group said its transformation programme is progressing well and on track to deliver the target of £50m net benefits over five years.
Full-year earnings are on track to be in line with internal expectations, the group revealed.
Chief executive, Chris Smith, said: “McBride today reports excellent half-year results, which are in line with our new elevated financial performance expectations and on track with the medium term targets outlined at our Capital Markets Day in March 2024.
“Our divisional teams continue to execute their respective strategies, with all five divisions healthily profitable. These results demonstrate a business delivering a consistently improved performance.”
He added: “With the group’s prospects in a much healthier position and with a more normalised debt position, the board recently announced its intention to reinstate an annual dividend, details of which will be communicated at the time of the final results in September 2025.
“Our focus remains on driving performance excellence and maintaining the momentum we have built, whilst continuing the transformation programme and achieving our sustainability targets.”
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AIM-listed Victorian Plumbing, which holds its AGM this morning, said the rate of revenue growth has improved in January 2025 and is expected to increase again in February 2025, partly due to the benefits of its new distribution centre.
Tiles and Décor is expected to grow by 30% and the closure of its former rival Victoria Plum is now complete, and all stock has been transferred. The company exited the lease in Doncaster on 31 January 2025.
Profit at the bathroom retailer is expected to be in line with full year market expectations when interim results for the six months ending 31 March 2025 are announced on 14 May 2025.
