Trading Update

SAGA PLC

29 January 2026

 

29 January 2026

Saga plc

Trading Update

Growth in underlying profit expected to be ahead of guidance  

Significant strategic progress including launch of new Insurance partnership

Saga plc (Saga or the Group), the UK's specialist in products and services for people over 50, provides the following update on trading for the period from 1 August 2025 to 28 January 2026.

2025/26 Outlook

·     The Group is expected to report an Underlying Profit Before Tax that is ahead of the prior year, and an improvement on our half year guidance.

·     Ocean Cruise has continued to deliver an excellent performance, with a strong load factor of 93%, a 2ppt improvement on the 91% previously achieved in the prior year, and a per diem of £394, a 10% increase on the prior year.

·     River Cruise Underlying Profit Before Tax has also continued to grow, benefitting from the launch of Spirit of the Moselle, achieving a load factor of 89%, in line with last year, alongside a per diem of £349, which is 7% higher than the prior year.

·     Holidays is expected to report a stronger Underlying Profit Before Tax than last year, supported by booked revenue growth of around 13% and passenger growth of 11%. This performance reflects the positive impact of our decision earlier in the year to consolidate our Travel businesses under one management team.

·     Insurance Broking outperformed our expectations, with continued growth in policy sales in three out of our four insurance products. Underlying Profit Before Tax is now expected to be marginally higher than last year and ahead of our expectations.

·     Trading EBITDA is still expected to be ahead of 2024/25.

·     Net Debt is expected to be marginally lower than the half year and significantly lower than the prior year, an improvement on previous guidance. This is supported by the strong trading cash flow and final proceeds from the sale of our Insurance Underwriting business, which were higher than previous guidance. Leverage is now expected to be below 4.0x. This excludes the £60m received from Ageas in December as a result of the new partnership going live. This receipt will temporarily further reduce Net Debt in the short term, pending a corresponding unwinding of working capital in 2026/27.

·     In December, Saga Money launched a new and improved instant access savings account as part of our new partnership with NatWest Boxed; further innovative financial products are expected to be launched in 2026.

Looking ahead to 2026/27

·     The Ocean Cruise booked1 load factor is 70%, 3ppts ahead of the same point in the prior year, and a per diem of £445, which is 13% ahead.

·     The River Cruise booked¹ load factor is 59%, 4ppts ahead of the same point in the prior year, and a per diem of £367, which is 3% ahead.

·     Holidays booked¹ revenue is £132m, 5% ahead of the same point in the prior year, and passengers of 39k, which is 1% ahead.

·     Insurance Broking Underlying Profit Before Tax is expected to be in line with previous guidance, as the Ageas partnership becomes fully embedded in 2026/27.

·     Following strong cash generation in 2025/26, the Group has passed its peak leverage point, with further reductions in both Net Debt and leverage, expected in 2026/27.

¹ Bookings at 25 January 2026

Mike Hazell, Saga Group Chief Executive Officer, said:

"This has been a period in which we traded ahead of expectations, particularly in Travel, delivered excellent financial results and continued to implement our strategic plans. Demand for our Ocean and River Cruises continued to grow and we saw a material increase in the number of customers taking our hotel and touring holidays. Trading in our Insurance Broking business has also been strong and ahead of expectations. The Group now expects to report an Underlying Profit Before Tax ahead of the prior year, and an improvement on the guidance we gave at the half year.

"Alongside this, we have made significant strategic progress. We have simplified our Travel business under one management team, creating a single, more efficient and customer centric operation. At the same time, we successfully completed the sale of our Insurance Underwriting business and launched partnerships with Ageas in Insurance Broking and NatWest Boxed in Money.

"As we look ahead, we expect the momentum to continue to build in our Cruise and Holidays businesses, while in Insurance Broking we expect Underlying Profit Before Tax to be in line with previous guidance. We continue to make progress against our longer term plans and are currently ahead of our expected trajectory. We remain confident of delivering underlying profitability of at least £100.0m, and leverage below 2.0x by January 2030."

The Group's preliminary results for the year ending 31 January 2026 are scheduled for Wednesday 15 April 2026.

For further information, please contact:

Saga plc
Sharnj Sandhu, Interim Director of Investor Relations and Treasury	Tel: [phone] Email: [e-mail]
Headland Consultancy
Susanna Voyle	Tel: [phone]
Will Smith	Tel: [phone]
	Tel: [phone]
	Email: [e-mail]

Notes to editors

Saga is a specialist in the provision of products and services for people over 50. Saga is one of the most recognised and trusted brands in the UK and is known for its high level of customer service and its high quality, award-winning products and services including cruises and holidays, insurance, personal finance and publishing. www.saga.co.uk

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