Is travel sector in New Zealand gearing up for a rebound?

Highlights

• The travel and tourism industry gearing up for a rebound in FY23
• AIR NZ releases its monthly investor update
• Auckland Airport appoints a new General Manager of corporate services

With travel restrictions easing and borders opening up, the travel and tourism industry in New Zealand is on a rebound, provided the economic environment does not deteriorate further, labour shortages are taken care of, and fuel prices don’t rise too much.

Let’s see how travel stocks are performing in the new scenario.

 Air New Zealand Limited (NZX:AIR)

Air New Zealand, the national airline of the country, is looking forward to a rebound in FY23. It announced its monthly investor update today, in which it revealed that the passenger traffic had increased 21.6% in July 2022 over pcp, the revenue was up over 40%, and the passenger load factor increased 17 points.

Earlier, in its FY22 results, the airline declared that it had been able to recapitalise itself, raising NZ$2.2 billion and seeing an increase in international travel. While declaring its FY22 results, it said that it was in a `revive’ mode and was seeing increased bookings.

AIR expects a significant improvement in its financials in FY23 but did not provide any guidance.

On 8 September, at the time of writing, AIR was trading down 0.75% to NZ$0.660. 

Auckland International Airport Limited (NZX:AIA)

Auckland Airport is the biggest airport of New Zealand. In its latest update, announced on 1 September, the AIA said that it had appointed Melanie Dooney as General Manager, Corporate Services. Ms Dooney will join in early November.

AIA also announced its FY22 results on 18 August, which reflected an underlying loss for the second year in a row. However, it is preparing to recover in FY23 as the borders reopen. It expects the business to return to profit in a range of NZ$50-NZ$100 million.

                                                                      Source: © 2022 Kalkine Media®

On 8 September, the stock was trading up 0.53% to NZ$7.53, at the time of writing.

Travel Holdings Limited (NZX:THL)

THL is a company that sells holiday vehicles in New Zealand and Australia. The company announced its FY22 results on 26 August, in which it reported a significant improvement over pcp but an underlying loss of NZ$ 5.4 million and a statutory net loss after tax of NZ$2.1 million. Total revenue was down 4% on pcp with a decline in rental revenue. THL expects to make a net profit after a tax of NZ$17 million to NZ$30.2 million in FY23. THL did not declare any dividend for FY22 and FY23.

On 8 September, the stock was trading up 0.74% at NZ$2.73, at the time of writing.