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The beach holiday specialist is out of favour as marketing costs have soared
Thursday 03 Aug 2023 Author: Tom Sieber

To say online travel agent On The Beach (OTB) has had a bad year is an understatement.

The first summer holiday season not besmirched by either Covid or major delays has been marred by escalating marketing spend which has helped keep the company loss-making – £6 million in the red for the six-month period to 31 March 2023.The company has faced strong competitive pressures in the value short-haul market it specialises in, with EasyJet (EZJ) investing in its package holidays arm and Jet2 (JET2:AIM) continuing to take market share.

Because On The Beach doesn’t own aircraft it is less a master of its own destiny and it is also exposed to forex movements as well as the risks to demand posed by pressured household budgets in the UK.

The flipside is the company has limited fixed costs and Shore Capital analyst Katie Cousins sees scope for a turnaround in its fortunes if it can expand in the premium sector and from long-haul, with potential to double its revenue and earnings if it could replicate its share of the short-haul space.



 

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