By Iain Gilbert
Date: Wednesday 11 Mar 2020
LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Travel and logistics firm Dart Group said on Wednesday that full-year profits looked set to be "significantly ahead" of current market expectations.
However, the Jet2 owner also cautioned that reductions in flying capacity in 2021 would result in a proportion of its existing hedging contracts becoming ineffective, impacting those profits as a result.
The AIM-listed group also noted that until "very recently", customer demand for its package holidays and flight-only leisure travel products had remained "consistently strong", with January and February bookings tracking well ahead of its 16% seat capacity increase.
While Dart noted that momentum had weakened over recent weeks with the increased reporting of coronavirus cases in Europe, the firm said its current cumulative Summer 2020 bookings remained above those seen at the same time a year ago.
"We continue to monitor the situation carefully and are taking proportionate actions to underpin the stability of the business, which includes reducing capacity on some routes where warranted, but always keeping at front of mind the need to ensure our customers experience the holidays they deserve," said Dart.
Dart added that Fowler Welch, its distribution and logistics arm, was trading in line with expectations and continued to develop its revenue pipeline with existing and new business opportunities.
As of 1025 GMT, Dart Group shares were up 5.57% at 1,024p.