Saga plc expects to report underlying profit before tax ahead of the prior year, the company said in a trading update on Thursday.
The company noted that performance from August 1, 2025, to January 28, 2026, exceeded expectations, particularly in its travel division. The group’s ocean cruise business achieved a 93% load factor, a two-percentage point improvement from 91% a year earlier, with a per diem of £394, representing a 10% increase.
River cruise operations also showed growth, benefiting from the launch of Spirit of the Moselle. The division achieved an 89% load factor, in line with the previous year, alongside a per diem of £349, 7% higher than a year earlier.
The holidays business reported booked revenue growth of about 13% and passenger growth of 11%. Insurance broking outperformed expectations, with continued growth in policy sales across three of four products. Underlying profit before tax for insurance broking is expected to be marginally higher than last year.
Net debt is expected to be significantly lower than a year earlier, an improvement on previous guidance. Leverage is now expected to be below 4.0x. The figure excludes £60m received from Ageas in December under a new partnership.
“This has been a period in which we traded ahead of expectations, particularly in Travel, delivered excellent financial results and continued to implement our strategic plans,” said Mike Hazell, Saga Group chief executive officer.
Looking ahead to 2026/27, the ocean cruise booked load factor stands at 70%, three-percentage points ahead of the same point a year earlier, with a per diem of £445, up 13%. River cruise bookings show a load factor of 59%, four-percentage points ahead, with a per diem of £367, up 3%.
The group said it has passed its peak leverage point and expects further reductions in net debt and leverage in 2026/27.
“In insurance broking we expect underlying profit before tax to be in line with previous guidance,” noted Hazell. “We continue to make progress against our longer-term plans and are currently ahead of our expected trajectory. We remain confident of delivering underlying profitability of at least £100.0m, and leverage below 2.0x by January 2030.”
Saga has scheduled preliminary results for the year ended January 31, 2026 for April 15, 2026.
