Saga has said it is “significantly ahead” of its long-term growth plans as it revealed a jump in profits. The over-50s travel and insurance group saw shares jump higher in early trading as a result.
Strong half-year performance
The company’s long-running turnaround programme gained further pace as sales grew for the past six months. It said its positive performance over the half-year to July “increased profit and cash flow expectations for the full year”, with underlying pre-tax profits now set to be “materially higher” than last year, at between £65 million and £70 million.
The London-based firm said it expects to strike an underlying profit of £100 million before its original 2030 target.
Focus on cruise business
The group’s transformation plan has seen Saga focus further on its cruise business, while shifting from underwriting insurance policies. Saga sold its underwriting business to Belgian firm Ageas and agreed a 20-year partnership deal for its remaining motor and home insurance arm.
On Wednesday, the group said revenues increased by 12% to £367.5 million for the six months to July 31, compared with a year earlier. Meanwhile, underlying pre-tax profits almost doubled to £46.6 million from £23.5 million a year earlier.
It said “strong” customer demand and lower promotional activity helped drive a 38% jump in profits in its ocean cruise business.
CEO and analyst comments
Mike Hazell, Saga’s group chief executive, said: “In April 2025, we laid out our medium-term targets, with plans to achieve underlying profits of £100 million by January 2030.
“Eighteen months on, we are significantly ahead of that trajectory.
“While conscious of potential economic headwinds and volatile global conditions, our performance this year further demonstrates the resilience of our business model and target customer group, increasing our confidence in achieving our medium-term targets ahead of plan.”
Mark Crouch, market analyst at EToro, said: “Saga is making its old reputation for debt and complexity look increasingly out of date.
“Profits have almost doubled, cash generation is strengthening and borrowings are falling faster than expected, giving substance to a turnaround investors have already backed enthusiastically.”
Shares in the firm rose by 15.6% to 741p on Wednesday morning.
