Shares in Saga have been boosted after it announced it has made ‘a strong start to the year’.
The specialist provider of products and services for people over 50 said its cruise division is performing ahead of expectations while private medical and travel insurance “are also performing well”. It said a payment of £10.5m from Ageas has been triggered by the strong performance of a new motor and home insurance partenership with the company.
Meanwhile, Saga’s net debt has reduced by more than £100m in the past year.
Its update, published on the same day as the company’s AGM, said the group traded in line with expectations for the first four months of the year and remains on track to deliver its full year guidance. Shares in the company rose by around nine per cent in Tuesday morning trading.
Mike Hazell, group chief executive officer, said: “Saga has made a strong start to the year, building on the significant growth we achieved last year.
“Our momentum in travel has continued, demonstrating the resilience of our customers and our diverse offering, despite the current geopolitical uncertainty.
“At this early stage of our partnership with Ageas, we are already seeing encouraging signs to support our long-term growth ambitions, and the performance in our wider Insurance business continued to benefit from the more simplified and customer focussed operating model we now have.
“Looking ahead, we are focused on continuing to grow our travel businesses and completing the transition to our new insurance model.
“We remain on track to deliver our full year guidance and continue to make clear progress towards our medium-term targets of at least £100.0m Underlying Profit Before Tax and a Leverage Ratio of below 2.0x by January 2030.”
The Group’s interim results for the six months ending July 31 2026 will be announced on September 30 2026.
