The bosses of troubled Travelzest believe the online company can continue as a going concern and are seeking all options for new investment.
Travelzest ‘is a going concern’, say bosses
The bosses of troubled Travelzest believe the online company can continue as a going concern and are seeking all options for new investment.
The firm, which has wound down or sold all UK operations, has been given an extension of its credit facility with its primary lending bank until August 30.
Interim results for the six months to April 30 show that operating profits plunged to £300,000 from £3.1 million a year earlier on revenues down from £15 million to £13.2 million.
Travelzest, which runs online travel retailers in Canada including itravel2000 and The Cruise Professionals, continues to be reliant on the support of its primary lending bank in order to continue to trade.
“The directors are exploring all options to refinance its debt including further investment from alternate sources,” the company said.
“On this basis, the directors have formed the view that the business is a going concern.”
Travelzest announced plans its intention to sell or wind down all the remaining UK operations late last year and this was recently completed.
The contract of chief executive Jonathan Carroll was terminated last week, a day after former director Mark Molyneux and shareholder
Group finance director Adrian Cobbold assumed responsibility for the day-to-day operations of the business in the short term.
Commenting on the half-year results, non-executive chairman Christopher Howell said: “Our Canadian brands are both robust businesses with strong and loyal customer bases.
“In the period, marketing investment has been a significant focus and the benefits of this are coming through.
“Consumer confidence is beginning to stabilise in the travel market, and our brands are well positioned to maximise this opportunity.”
Improved pricing, higher advertising revenue and improved volumes from the Cruise Professionals partially offset first half trading at itravel2000, which is down over the prior year as a result of weaker package vacation sales, primarily in the first quarter, Travelzest said.
