Ticino-based travel platform LM Group is the best performing SIX stock in 2019

Throughout 2019 LM Group delivered convincing results. Most recently, the figures for the first nine months were presented. The Group continued to show significant growth:

• Core business revenues of €258.5M, up 19.1% vs €217.1M in previous-year period  
• Core business EBITDA of €56.5M, up 66.0% vs €34.0M in first nine months 2018
• Net earnings of €20.6M against €6.5M in first nine months 2018

The third quarter 2019 has recorded the highest Core Business Revenue, Core Business EBITDA and Net Income ever with respectively €92.9M, €21.4M and €8.4M.

LM group's main driver of growth continues to be the OTA business, thanks to the great performance of both Flight and Dynamic Packages that grew significantly versus last year (+32.5% and +38.3% respectively) clearly outpacing the average market growth. For the whole year the company expects core business revenues above € 320M (+12% vs. 2018) and core business EBITDA € 68-70M.

The positive figures convinced the investors. The share price increased by 167.4 percent during the year. This makes it the best performing share at the SIX in 2019. The share price is now back at the level of the issue price of 2014 when the Ticino-based company ventured onto the stock market under the name Bravofly Rumbo. The interim losses were caused by the price war in the travel industry. Dynamic Packages played a particularly important role in the company's return to success. Travelers increasingly do not just look for a hotel or a flight on online platforms, but for a package meeting their needs and offering a discount. LM Group started to promote these packages early and is now one of the most important players in the market. In addition, new pricing structures for flights were introduced.

At the presentation of the nine-months results, Sergio Signoretti, CFO, said: "With significant growth in all KPIs, the results of the first nine months of 2019 meet all expectations. They prove that we are on the right track. Our confidence is based on the significant competitive advantage against competitors we were able to build in the market segment of dynamic packages. Also, we have recovered the flight performance thanks to the sophistication of the pricing strategy. This has structurally changed our business model which is running very well over the past two years.”