TRAVEL group Minoan has declared it remains acquisitive as it reported that travellers spent almost £40 million with its businesses in the six months to April 30, a 20 per cent uplift on the same period last year.
Minoan, which is best known for its planned but perennially-delayed luxury resort on Crete, operates a network of specialist and corporate travel agencies, including Stewart Travel.
The group’s chairman Christopher Egleton said Minoan was also considering seeking further investment to help increase its growth trajectory.
In June, the Glasgow-based group extended a £5m loan facility from Hillside International Holdings, and early this month it raised £450,000 through a share placing for working capital.
Noting the acquisition in May of independent Edinburgh travel agents Morningside Travel, chairman Christopher Egleton said: “With a successful track record of travel agency acquisitions the Group is still looking for further suitable opportunities to acquire other leading, specialist travel agencies to help further enhance the travel and leisure division’s performance.”
Total transaction value in its travel and tourism division climbed to £39.7m, with gross profit rising 14 per cent to more than £4m. The biggest uplift came in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA), which was up 35 per cent to £449,000.
“Organic growth remains healthy and we will work to continue to improve its operational profitability whilst reviewing suitable opportunities and strategies to increase its rate of growth,” said Mr Egleton. “This may involve bringing in a suitable partner or investor.”
Transactional value is set to increase in the second half with the contribution of Morningside Travel, which Mr Egleton said was an “ideal fit” for Stewart Travel.
The six month period also saw the conclusion of a long-running regulatory battle in Greece over Minoan’s proposed Itanos Gaia project in Crete.
First proposed in 2012, the construction of the luxury resort on the Cavo Sidero peninsula is envisaged to include a number of hotels. It has been beset with delays relating to planning consent and subsequent appeals against this.
Mr Egleton said the company is “about to enter the most rewarding period in its history,” after the final appeal against the resort was dismissed by the Greek Supreme Court in June.
He described the project’s outline planning consent as “most significant foreign investment project in the tourism sector that has been approved by the Greek Government”.
The company claims that the build footprint is less than 0.5 per cent of the 6,000 acre site, with more than 90 per cent of the landscape being left in its natural state.
“The group intends to ensure that Itanos Gaia will be one of the ‘softest’, most environmentally friendly major projects in Europe and a landmark for tourism in Greece,” said Mr Egleton.
The areas for development within the site, with outline consent for 108,000 square metres, are spread over approximately 2,000 acres. Minoan is currently speaking to potential partners for the development. These are split into operating partners such as hotel groups, and financial partners
“Although both are required, from a developer’s point of view the key players at this stage are usually those investors who are themselves experienced in the tourism and leisure sector and, as you would expect, this is where we have been concentrating our efforts to date,” said Mr Egleton.
Saying that the forthcoming year would be “transformational” for the group, Mr Egleton said: “The past six months have been a landmark period with the profitability of the T&L business reaching new heights, while the dismissal of the appeals against the [Presidential Decree] promises to be the catalyst for the joint development of one of the premier resorts in the Mediterranean.”
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