Lion Travel Service Co (雄獅旅行社), the nation’s leading travel service provider, saw its profit jump by 61.56 percent to NT$174.78 million (US$5.5 million) last quarter from the same period last year, driven by growing travel demand to Japan and Europe, a senior executive said yesterday.
The Taipei-based company expects business to accelerate in the second half, a traditionally high season for overseas trips, although the seasonal effect has somewhat tapered off in recent years.
“Taiwanese tourists swarmed to Japan and Europe last quarter due primarily to a weak yen and euro,” Lion Travel chief financial officer Sam Huang (黃玄騰) said by telephone.
Photo: Chang Chung-i, Taipei Times
The results translated into earnings per share of NT$2.5 for the April-to-June period, 30 percent higher than NT$1.92 reported for the first quarter, at variance with the seasonality, Huang said.
It is uncommon for second-quarter earnings to beat those of the first quarter, as Taiwanese families usually travel overseas during the Lunar New Year holiday on their year-end bonuses, he said.
Lion Travel is the largest outbound travel service provider in Taiwan, with a market share of 13 percent as of March 31, according to JPMorgan Securities Ltd’s tallies. The company has also set up a subsidiary in the Shanghai free-trade zone, eyeing opportunities in China.
Last quarter, trips by Taiwanese to Japan and European countries increased by 30 percent and 20 percent year-on-year respectively, Huang said.
Aside from its weak currency, Japan’s travel convenience, ease of shopping and favorable policies such as tax rebates have successfully attracted foreign tourists, he said.
Taiwanese have long shown a penchant for Japanese cuisine, consumer electronics devices, cosmetic products and garments, while many local companies last quarter made Japan their travel destination for employee rewards, Huang said.
For the second half of the year, Lion Travel revenue might benefit from the ongoing summer vacation and national holidays next month and in October, Huang said.
“The second half is a relatively high sales season for the tourism industry,” Huang said, adding that trips to warmer climates in Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand are to rise in popularity with the arrival of winter.
Shares in Lion Travel yesterday ended down by 1.67 percent to NT$147.5 in Taipei trading.
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