SeaLink record profit result

SEALINK Travel Group this morning revealed its figures for the 12 months to 30 Jun, with total sales of $201.4 million, up 13.5% on the previous year.

The company’s net profit after tax was $23.8 million, an increase of 6.6% year-on-year, driven by strong growth in the Captain Cook Cruises NSW and SeaLink South Australia businesses.

“2017 was a year of continuing transformation,” said ceo Jeff Ellison, with key activities including leveraging the potential of operations in Gladstone and South East Queensland as well as improving the product offering for Captain Cook Cruises WA.

“We are well placed to continue growing our tourism-related businesses in a competitive environment and encouraged by the response to our new ferry services and the uplift in sales and margins for the lunch and dinner cruise segment on Sydney Harbour,” Ellison said.

A strong performance for SeaLink South Australia was mainly driven by strong demand for PS Murray Princess as well as higher passenger volumes on the Kangaroo Island ferry service.

Captain Cook Cruises saw a 34.5% lift in sales revenue, mainly due to the full year impact of the Apr 2016 WA acquisition, while higher yields were achieved by moving away from “lower margin group offerings”.

“We are excited about the outllook for further organic tourism and transport growth opportunities,” the company said, adding it was also continuing to seek acquisitions that would complement its current services.