Saga sees FY profits in line with market views after better-than-expected H1

(Sharecast News) - Saga said on Wednesday that full-year underlying pre-tax profit was set to be in line with market expectations after a better-than-expected first half, driven by continued strength in the travel segment. In the six months to the end of July, the company swung to a pre-tax profit of £3.7m from a loss of £116.9m in the same period a year earlier. Saga said this reflects both its positive trading performance and the end of Insurance Broking goodwill impairments that have impacted previous years' profits.

Underlying pre-tax profits dipped 5% to £23.5m, reflecting increased financing costs following the refinancing of its corporate debt facilities, offset by strong growth in trading profits.

Underlying revenue grew 7% to £320.5m.

Saga said the travel business had an "excellent" start to the year, with underlying pre-tax profit up 33% at £41.6m and underlying revenue 9% higher at £246.7m.

In Insurance Broking, reported underlying pre-tax profit fell to £9.1m from £11.7m, but this was ahead of expectations.

Chief executive Mike Hazell said: "Our Travel business has performed particularly strongly. Demand for our exceptional Ocean and River Cruise holidays continued to grow and we have seen a material increase in the number of customers enjoying our hotel and touring holidays.

"In July, we launched our newest River Cruise ship, Spirit of the Moselle, which is already trading well and proving to be very popular with our customers - a clear demonstration of the growth opportunities we have in river cruising.

"Trading in our Insurance business was ahead of expectations and we made good progress with our strategy to reengineer our insurance operations. The sale of our Insurance Underwriting business to Ageas completed on 1 July 2025, as expected, and our transformational 20-year Insurance Broking partnership remains on track to go live later this year."

At 0950 BST, the shares were 2% higher at 221.31p.

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: "Saga sailed higher as it returned to profit and trimmed its borrowings. The over-50s lifestyle group always seemed to have a solid proposition given it targets a growing demographic which often has a decent amount of spending power but has singularly failed to take advantage of this opportunity since listing in 2014.

"A strategy more focused on the travel division is showing signs of promise."