Saga (LON:SAGA) Releases Earnings Results

Saga (LON:SAGA) announced its earnings results on Wednesday. The company reported GBX 20.50 earnings per share for the quarter, Digital Look Earnings reports. Saga had a net margin of 3.25% and a return on equity of 23.50%.

Here are the key takeaways from Saga’s conference call:

• Strong first-half performance: Underlying revenue rose 14% to £366 million, while underlying profit before tax nearly doubled to £46.6 million, driven by growth across travel and insurance.
• Saga raised full-year underlying profit guidance to £65 million–£70 million, versus £44 million last year, and said it now expects to reach its medium-term targets of £100 million profit and leverage below two times ahead of January 2030.
• Ocean Cruise remained the main growth engine, with profit before tax up 38%, per diems up 13% and strong forward bookings supporting continued pricing power; group net debt fell to £429.1 million and leverage improved to 2.7 times.
• The insurance transformation is gaining traction, with Insurance Broking profit before tax up 75%, policies in force up 5% and lower operating costs expected as the Ageas partnership and simpler operating model mature.
• Management flagged risks from low river levels, which are expected to reduce full-year River Cruise profit, and Middle East disruption affecting the Holidays business; Ageas-related exceptional costs will also continue next year, albeit at a lower level.

Saga Trading Down 2.6%

LON:SAGA traded down GBX 20 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting GBX 761. The company had a trading volume of 573,875 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,001,886. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 503.16, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.91. Saga has a fifty-two week low of GBX 237 and a fifty-two week high of GBX 797. The firm has a market cap of £1.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 317.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 2.02. The business’s fifty day moving average is GBX 658.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is GBX 601.07.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Mike Hazell bought 276 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 15th. The stock was purchased at an average price of GBX 652 per share, with a total value of £1,799.52. Also, insider Mark Watkins bought 276 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 15th. The stock was purchased at an average price of GBX 652 per share, for a total transaction of £1,799.52. Company insiders own 30.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Saga from GBX 795 to GBX 855 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Berenberg Bank lifted their price objective on Saga from GBX 1,025 to GBX 1,130 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Saga presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of GBX 992.50.

Saga Company Profile

Saga exists to deliver exceptional experiences for our customers every day, whilst being a driver of positive change in our markets and communities.