All Leisure remains confident despite heavy dive into red

24th Feb 2014 09:42

Travel and leisure group All Leisure today revealed a hefty plunge into the red for its full year as it counted the cost of a number one-off losses and failed derivative contracts. The group acknowledged it was a "disappointing" turnout. Full-year pre-tax losses came in at £13.6m versus a profit of £800,000 in 2012. Group revenue for the year rose from £127.4m to £142.1m, an increase of 11.5% overall. The poor profit performance reflects a £4.3m loss on derivative contracts and losses of £9.9m in one-off, mostly non-cash items. The group's current cash position stands at £14.3m versus £23.8m a year ago. All Leisure assured its tour operating division "continues to perform strongly", generating underlying operating profits of £4.1m in its first full year within the group. Although the profit is down from £9.1m last time, it does include consideration of seasonal winter losses for the first time. The acquisition of the Page & Moy Travel contributed an additional £10m in tour operating revenue for the year. The group's Discover Egypt arm, meanwhile, remains profitable despite ongoing political uncertainty in the country. Going forward, All Leisure aims to achieve growth by exploiting the increasing demand for destination-led holidays. It also wants to offer an increasing choice of niche holiday products to the over-55 English speaking market.All Leisure Chief Executive Ian Smith, said: "The disappointing headline results of the group, largely resulting from a series of exceptional events, should not detract from a year of great accomplishment for the group. Underlying trade improved significantly in the year with the tour operation acquisition continuing to perform strongly and the benefits of capacity reduction in the cruise business having an immediate impact."Smith confirmed that, in keeping with group strategy of cutting cruise capacity, the board has taken the decision that the loss-making Discovery ship will be disposed of at the end of this summer. All Leisure Chairman Roger Allard sought to further reassure investors, noting that over the year the company has established "a new and very experienced management team" to run the business. Allard added: "The acquisition of the Page & Moy Travel has provided significant cross selling opportunities to the respective customer bases and will continue to do so. The successful integration of this business into the group has enabled us to realise significant synergies and efficiencies enabling us to create a much stronger business capable of delivering sustained growth.In mid-morning trade All Leisure Group shares were unchanged at 41.5p, valuing the company at £25.62m. KP