The New Zealand fleet increased by 611 vehicles to 2778, with revenue per average rental vehicle falling 5.2% to $56,800.
Underlying earnings before interest and tax (ebit) were up 17% to $105.4m, with underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation up 14% to $222.4m.
THL grew its fleet 10% over the financial year to 8587 vehicles.
THL has a goal to deliver a net profit of $100m after tax over the next three years, with key strategic priorities to support this.
Overall, THL reported an underlying net profit of $46.1m, up 34%, with a statutory net profit of $39.9m.
THL chief executive Grant Webster said rental remained the engine of the business as it entered the second half.
“Operationally, this was a year of delivering hard actions. We consolidated Australasian manufacturing into Hamilton and launched a redesigned Winnebago range, and opened a new Queenstown site on August 17,” Webster said.
“We exited two loss-making Australian dealerships and delivered approximately $5 million of underlying labour, corporate and digital cost savings.”
Tourism Holdings chief executive Grant Webster said the business entered the second half with “real momentum” before the Middle East conflict. Image / Tourism Holdings
Outlook
Conflict in the Middle East disrupted the momentum.
Webster said international travel was disrupted in March, with the flow-on impacts of fuel pricing impacting domestic tourism for a period.
He said Southern Hemisphere booking intake had since recovered to be ahead of the prior year, with New Zealand intake over the last four weeks up around 40%.
“Canada is on track for record rental revenue this summer season, and recent US intake is tracking around 45% ahead. That tells us a portion of demand was deferred rather than lost.”
With the market creating a gap in forward booking intake, Webster said it is unlikely to be fully recoverable.
Paired with continued weakness in the rental vehicle market, THL said this had impacted the earnings step-up it expected for the 2027 financial year.
THL has a goal to deliver a net profit of $100m after tax over the next three years, with key strategic priorities to support this.
The company has made progress on all the strategic initiatives it announced in August 2025.
Those included the sale of THL UK & Ireland for roughly $57m, the exit of two loss-making Australian dealerships, closure of the Brisbane factory and implementation of North American labour, fleet and procurement synergies.
THL acknowledged that the timing of meeting the goal may have changed because of the slowdown caused by the Middle East conflict, but said the long-term opportunity had not.
Takeover update
THL’s board is still conducting due diligence with two parties that have made non-binding indicative offers.
The company received the first offer from the consortium in August 2025, valued at $2.30 per share, before the consortium upgraded it in May 2026 to $3.10 per share.
The consortium included BGH Capital (BGH) and the family interests of Luke and Karl Trouchet (Trouchet Shareholders). Luke Trouchet was a former director at THL.
The consortium currently holds about 19.9% of the shares in Tourism Holdings.
THL’s board then announced it had received an additional offer from a party it considered a “credible strategic buyer”, for the acquisition of 100% of the shares in the company, valued at $3.30 to $3.40 per share.
The company confirmed due diligence with both parties remains underway and is expected to continue for another six weeks.
“Both proposals remain non-binding and subject to a range of conditions; there can be no certainty that either will result in a transaction, and shareholders are not required to take any action at this time,” the company said.
THL declared a final dividend of 7.5c per share, taking the full-year dividend to 10.5c per share, an increase of 62% on the prior year.
Tom Raynel is a multimedia business journalist for the Herald, covering small business, retail and tourism.
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