This article was taken from Express & Star:
The owner of the UK’s biggest naturist holiday operator has put a host of under-performing businesses up for sale.
Travelzest, which owns nudist firm Peng Travel as well as luxury brands such as Best of Morocco and Captivating Cuba, wants to focus on its more successful operations in Canada and up-and-coming brands such as flight.co.uk.
The strategy was unveiled following the collapse of takeover talks after a bid from Canadian travel firm Red Label came in “significantly” short of hopes.
Travelzest said potential buyers had been identified for a number of the businesses and brands up for sale, although it has not disclosed which UK operations it plans to offload.
Other brands in its UK portfolio include JMB Travel, which specialises in opera holidays, and VFB Holidays, which offers self-catering breaks in France.
The company will retain its headquarters in Cheltenham but said 90% of its revenues and profits will come from its Canadian operations, which include itravel2000 and The Cruise Professionals.
It said the measures were expected to improve underlying operating profits by around £1.5 million a year.
Chairman Mark Molyneux said: “By divesting those assets that are not performing, particularly in the current very difficult economic climate in the UK, which contrasts with much better conditions in Canada, we are building a stronger business that is well positioned for future growth.”
In July, Travelzest said its UK operations were struggling in an “exceptionally difficult” trading environment, with summer departures down by 57% on a year earlier.
SOURCE: Express & Star
Peng Travel
