![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.thebusinessdesk.com\/_files\/images\/Richard-Singer-photo-e1620900079425-300x200.png\")
<\/p>\nA Leeds-headquartered travel comparison group has plunged further into the red after a year of falling turnover, squeezed margins and a major shift in its marketing strategy.<\/p>\n
Ice Travel Group, which operates Icelolly.com and TravelSupermarket.com, reported a pre-tax loss of \u00a31.55m for the year ended 31 December 2025, against a loss of \u00a3189,000 a year earlier.<\/p>\n
Turnover fell 6.7 per cent to \u00a317.93m from \u00a319.21m, while EBITDA before exceptional costs almost halved to \u00a31.92m from \u00a33.51m.<\/p>\n
The group, led by CEO Richard Singer, blamed a change in how it reaches holidaymakers, moving marketing expenditure away from traditional television advertising towards social media and other growth channels.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The strategy delivered a 68 per cent increase in social media sessions and helped broaden the websites\u2019 audience. But it also reduced gross profit margin, leaving the group with lower earnings despite a \u00a31m reduction in operating costs.<\/p>\n
There was some better news beneath the headline figures. Revenue from package holidays, the group\u2019s core income stream, grew by 4 per cent during the year. That was offset by falls in car hire and travel extras.<\/p>\n
Across the two websites, users generated more than 14.8 million sessions during 2025.<\/p>\n
The results come as the business adjusts to a significant change in ownership, marking a new chapter for two established names in the UK holiday comparison market.<\/p>\n
Icelolly.com and TravelSupermarket were once separate businesses competing for consumers searching for holidays and travel deals. In May 2021, plans were announced to bring them together in a joint venture, with the merger completed that September following regulatory clearance.<\/p>\n
The combination brought the brands under the Ice Travel Group umbrella, with Moneysupermarket Group initially holding a majority stake and board control. Both consumer-facing websites were retained, combining their reach and technology while continuing to operate under their own names.<\/p>\n
However, the relationship changed in 2025, when Moneysupermarket\u2019s holding in the parent company was reduced from 67 per cent to 49.9 per cent. It remains a substantial shareholder, but no longer has a majority stake.<\/p>\n
The group\u2019s latest accounts underline the challenge facing comparison businesses as they compete for consumer attention while seeking to make their technology and marketing spend work harder.<\/p>\n
Director Richard Stringer\u00a0said the group was pursuing \u201ccontinued improvements\u201d to both websites through technology, data and content, with a focus on improving the user experience, opening up new revenue opportunities and reducing maintenance costs.<\/p>\n
The business is also looking to diversify beyond traditional holiday comparison, with investment in data and business-to-business revenue streams forming part of its growth strategy.<\/p>\n
The directors said the group was focused on ensuring it could \u201cmaximise the opportunities in an AI environment\u201d as it seeks to improve the performance of its platforms.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ice Travel Group, owner of Icelolly.com and TravelSupermarket, sees turnover fall by \u00a31.3m as it shifts spending from television advertising to social media and reshapes its ownersh<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":271992,"featured_media":2075308,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"coauthors":[137100],"class_list":["post-2161456","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news","tag-featured-story","tag-yorkshire"],"yoast_head":"\n