Skyscanner: Profit jumps to almost £100m at travel search engine

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Skyscanner has reported a surge in its pre-tax profit for 2023.
Skyscanner has reported a surge in its pre-tax profit for 2023.

Profit at travel search engine Skyscanner has rocketed to almost £100m thanks to the final Covid-19 restrictions coming to an end.

The Edinburgh-headquartered business has reported a pre-tax profit of £95.2m for 2023, up from the £31.5m it achieved in 2022.

Newly-filed accounts with Companies House also show its revenue rose from £283.8m to £349.4m over the same period.

In the final year before the Covid-19 pandemic struck in 2019, the firm’s turnover totalled £311.3m and it achieved a pre-tax profit of £48.6m.

Skyscanner said the number of sessions on its site increased by 33 per cent to 2.9bn in the year while 110m users visited its platforms every month.

Flight meta search continued to be its largest revenue stream, representing 78 per cent of its total, down by one per cent.

The company’s net assets surged by 129 per cent compared to 2022 driven by an increase in cash from £1.9m to £45.9m because of stronger trading conditions, an increase in amounts due from related parties and a rise in trade receivables.

During the year Skyscanner increased its headcount from 823 to 967.

Skyscanner boosted as travel returns to normal

The amount of revenue it generated from flight commissions rose from £223.1m to £271.2m and from £6.9m to £9.7m for hotels.

Its commission from car hires grew from £8.6 to £11.5m while its earnings from advertising and partner analytics jumped from £45m to £56.9m.

A statement signed off by the board said: “The company’s business and financial results improved as the remaining markets to improve travel restrictions related to the Covid-19 pandemic reopened their borders in the first half of 2023.

“The lifting of global travel restrictions led to a strong recovery in traveller numbers and in the resulting revenue generated by the company.

“This revenue growth has been sustained as travel returns to pre-pandemic levels and travel booking patterns broadly return to their seasonal trends.”

Skyscanner was set up in 2004 and is now owned by Trip.com Group.