(Reuters) -Package holiday provider On The Beach Group forecast annual profit to miss market expectations on Wednesday after the planned closure of its business-to-business unit and late summer booking trends clouded visibility, sending its shares down 20%.
The company said it would wind down its B2B segment ‘Classic Collection’, which made a small loss in the year, to focus on its customer-facing segment.
Amid sticky inflation and rising concerns over possible tax increases in the November budget, UK households are tightening their spending, leading travellers to be more cautious when booking holidays.
“Summer 2026 bookings currently reflect the later booking trend as reported across the market, with bookings being made increasingly closer to the date of departure,” On The Beach said in a statement.
Analysts at RBC Capital Markets said On the Beach continues to trade well ahead of the market, noting that the wind-down of its B2B unit enables it to focus on its strongest growth areas.
Excluding the B2B unit, the company now expects adjusted pre-tax profit of between 34.5 million pounds and 35.5 million pounds ($46.57 million and $47.92 million) for the year ending September 30.
Analysts expect a profit of 38.4 million pounds, including the B2B contribution of 2 million pounds, according to a company-compiled poll.
($1 = 0.7408 pounds)
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(Reporting by Raechel Thankam Job in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich)
