Parkdean feels pinch from fuel and school

HIGH petrol prices and the parents' reluctance to take their children on holiday in term time have hit bookings at Parkdean Holidays, Britain's third-biggest caravan parks group.

Sales patterns since April have been 'unusually erratic', said chairman Graham Wilson, pushing like-for-like sales down 4.1%. Seasonal losses grew from £5.6m to £9.6m in the six months to 30 April, reflecting the six new parks bought last year. Turnover rose from £13.2m to £19.4m.

Parkdean's operations in Cornwall have been particularly hard hit, which Wilson believes is partly a reaction against high petrol prices.

'Cornwall is a pretty hefty journey for many people and it must be having an effect,' he said. 'The weather hasn't helped either and we are also finding that parents don't want to take their kids out of school in term time, even though they are still allowed a fortnight if they have permission. There has been no change to the rules but people seem to have taken fright.'

There is also a growing trend towards shorter holidays, which means a greater number of bookings are needed to fill the same capacity.

Caravan sales are still doing well and are in line with expectations. For the full-year, Wilson said he is confident of selling the remaining peak capacity and hopes like-for-like sales will at least match last year's.

Reflecting that confidence, the interim dividend is raised by 27% to 2.8p.