Photo: 123RF
Campervan operator Tourism Holdings (THL) says strong growth in its rental business has helped drive first-half net profit up 17 percent, with revenue growth of 4 percent.
“Our rentals business remains the engine of THL’s business model and continues to power our global revenue performance,” chief executive Grant Webster said.
“Globally, rental performance remained strong during H1 FY26, with 11 percent growth in sale of services revenue (primarily rentals) in the first half.
“As of today, we are seeing global forward rental revenue for future travel periods more than 15 percent higher than at the same point last year, despite the decline seen in the US market.”
Key numbers for the six months ended December compared with a year ago:
- Net profit $29.6m vs $25.3m
- Revenue $477.3m vs $458.4m
- Underlying net profit $29.5m vs $26.5m
- Interim 3 cents per share vs 2.5 CPS
“We remain confident in the outlook for global tourism. The industry is finally moving away from pre-Covid comparisons,” Webster said.
“Structural drivers, including growing global airline capacity and growing demand for our category of free independent travel, continue to support a positive outlook for RV rentals.
“Looking ahead, we expect continued momentum and growth through calendar year 2026 in New Zealand, Australia and Canada, with these markets seeing between 20 percent to 30 percent growth in forward rental revenue.
“The downside is that we are in an environment where the USA is ‘off the menu’ for many international travellers this year. While the 2025 high season still had the benefit of solid booking intakes before the Liberation Day tariffs were announced (subject to some cancellations), the entire 2026 booking window has been impacted.”
Progress on the strategic initiatives announced in August 2025
“We continue to view FY26 as a transition year as we implement transformational initiatives against a background of ongoing weakness in RV sales markets, broader macroeconomic challenges, and uncertainty regarding the timing of a recovery,” Webster said.
“Notwithstanding this, we are focused on our forecast for FY26.”
The company expected full-year underlying net profit to be in the range of $43m and $47m, including a $1m reduction associated with the timing of its UK divestment.
He said challenging vehicle sales conditions persisted, and the second half of FY26 was expected to largely reflect the trends seen in the first half, with any meaningful recovery unlikely within the current financial year.
Net debt was expected to be less than $400 million.
“Looking further ahead, the execution of our strategic initiatives, continued recovery in international tourism and rental demand, alongside ongoing cost-out actions, are expected to materially benefit FY27.
“We expect gross fleet capital expenditure in FY26 to be around $210 million, reflective of our fleet and capital management decisions.”
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