First Choice continues long-haul recovery

PACKAGE holiday group First Choice has said it is seeing strong growth and earlier bookings on the back of the boom in long-haul packages.

Summer sales at its mainstream division were up 21% on last year, its specialist division up 33% and its activity unit, excluding skiing, up 7%. Winter sales were also up but sales at its struggling skiing business fell 15%.

The company has undergone a remarkable reversal of fortunes since the turn of the millennium, after it was left reeling by a bruising price war in the Nineties.

In mid-December it reported record annual profits of £93.8m, up 13% on the previous year. Shares have recovered from their low of 115p in mid-July last year, to a recent high of 180p - they currently stand at 168½p.

This turnaround was driven by branching out into more imaginitive packages, such as action and adventure holidays, as mainstream competition has become cut-throat.

First Choice has also taken advantage of the weak dollar to offer more long-haul destinations and exotic locations, as people switched from the traditional Mediterranean market.

'Our margins also continue to be ahead of last year and we remain confident that trading will be in line with our expectations,' the firm said in a trading update.