APOLLO Tourism & Leisure today reported a disappointing 76% decline in its annual profit to $4.7 million after tax, but noted the continued strong performance of its campervan rental businesses in Australia, New Zealand, North America, Europe and the UK.
However the company’s vehicle sales divisions were hit by low consumer confidence, leading to reduced margins and lower overall revenue than expected.
The group’s portfolio includes the Apollo, Star RV, CanaDream, Hippie and Camplify brands, and Apollo also sells both new and ex-rental RVs through its own retail sales centres and selected dealers.
CEO Luke Trouchet said 2018/19 had been “a period of consolidation and integration as we invest in people and infrastructure to support our ongoing global expansion”.
The company’s underlying profit of $14.7 million was hit by a non-cash $11m writedown of goodwill and intangible assets.
Apollo’s global revenue was a record $365.2 million, up 2.7% year-on-year and the company also cited a rental day record of 886,000, up 4.7%.
Key milestones over the last year have included the opening of new rental branches in Germany and France, marking the company’s first foray into continental Europe.
Rental demand remained strong in NZ, up 8.6% but lower than expected last minute bookings were recorded in the last quarter of the financial year.
In North America the strong performance of the rental business was offset by a “soft used vehicle sales market” due to an over-supply of new vehicles.
Trouchet said the company had seen a “solid start” to FY20, with rental demand remaining strong despite “ongoing headwinds” from issues such as Brexit, China-US trade tensions and the unrest in Hong Kong.
“An earlier resolution to such issues is likely to result in increased consumer confidence and improved trading conditions,” the Apollo CEO said.
Source: traveldaily