2025-26 interim results statement

About this update from Saga Plc

[{"type":"text","content":"\n \n 24 September 2025 \n Saga plc \n Interim results for the six months ended 31 July 2025 \n First half results ahead of expectations, driven by continued strength in Travel. \n Delivery of strategic plans on track. \n   \n Saga plc ( Saga or the Group ), the UK's specialist in products and services for people over 50, announces its interim results for the six-month period ended 31 July 2025. \n \n \n \n \n Six months ended \n \n \n 31 July 2025 \n \n \n 31 July 2024 \n \n \n Change \n \n \n \n \n Underlying Revenue 1 ,2 \n \n \n £ 320.5m \n \n \n £298.2m \n \n \n 7% \n \n \n \n \n Revenue \n \n \n £328.2m \n \n \n £300.6m \n \n \n 9% \n \n \n \n \n Trading EBITDA 1,2 \n \n \n £ 67.5m \n \n \n £62.4m \n \n \n 8% \n \n \n \n \n Net finance costs 3 \n \n \n (£20.5m) \n \n \n (£12.9m) \n \n \n (59%) \n \n \n \n \n Underlying Profit Before Tax 1,2 \n \n \n £ 23.5m \n \n \n £24.8m \n \n \n (5%) \n \n \n \n \n Profit/(loss) before tax 2 \n \n \n £3.7m \n \n \n (£116.9m) \n \n \n 103% \n \n \n \n \n Available Operating Cash Flow 1 \n \n \n £ 89.4m \n \n \n £54.4m \n \n \n 64% \n \n \n \n \n Net Debt 1 \n \n \n £ 515.1m \n \n \n £617.2m 4 \n \n \n 17% \n \n \n \n \n Leverage Ratio 1 \n \n \n 4.3 x \n \n \n 4.8x 4 \n \n \n 0.5x \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n 1 Refer to the Alternative Performance Measures Glossary for definition and explanation \n 2 From continuing operations \n 3 Net finance costs exclude Ocean Cruise and Insurance Underwriting finance costs and Travel net fair value losses on derivatives \n 4 Following the Group's refinancing and revised covenant definition, Net Debt and Leverage Ratio have been updated for 31 July 2024 \n   \n Financial highlights \n We have delivered a strong set of financial results, driven in particular by the excellent performance of our Travel business. The Group has made clear operational progress in the first half of the year and now has solid foundations in place to achieve long-term growth. \n ·      Strong first half trading performance, ahead of our expectations. As a result, full year Underlying Profit Before Tax 5 is now expected to be in line with the prior year , despite increased finance costs. \n ·      Trading EBITDA 5,6 grew 8% to £67.5m, with Underlying Revenue 5,6 up 7%. As a result, Trading EBITDA is now expected to be ahead of expectations. \n ·      Underlying Profit Before Tax 5,6 was ahead of expectations but £1.3m lower than the same period last year due to increased financing costs associated with the Group's new corporate debt facility. \n ·      Profit before tax 6 grew by £120.6m year-on-year, returning the Group to profit . \n ·      Net Debt 5 improved by £102.1m and full year Leverage Ratio 5 now expected to be below the prior year. \n ·      Progressing towards the £100m+ target for Underlying Profit Before Tax 5 by January 2030 , with leverage falling to below 2.0x in the same period. \n 5 Refer to the Alternative Performance Measures Glossary for definition and explanation \n 6 From continuing operations \n   \n Progress on strategic objectives \n We have made significant progress on our strategic objectives over the first six months of the year. \n ·      Successfully refinanced our debt with a new £335.0m term loan due in 2031, repaying the £250.0m bond and the £75.0m drawings under the Roger De Haan loan facility. \n ·      Completed the sale of our Insurance Underwriting business, to Ageas 7 , on time and delivered £17.0m higher net cash than previous guidance. \n ·      Reorganised the leadership of our Insurance Broking business, with the new team making good progress on preparations for our 20-year insurance partnership with Ageas 7 , which is on track for a Q4 2025 go live. \n ·      Consolidated our Travel leadership team, which in turn delivered a very strong trading performance, improved efficiency and provided an excellent customer experience across our product range. \n ·      Launched our newest River Cruise ship, Spirit of the Moselle , a great addition to our in-demand river cruise experience, supporting our continued growth in this area. \n ·      Successfully agreed a new savings partnership with NatWest Boxed, which is on track for a Q4 2025 go live and will offer a range of innovative financial products, starting with an improved instant access savings account \n 7 Wholly owned UK subsidiaries of Ageas SA/NV \n Outlook \n A strong first half trading performance, ahead of our expectations, gives us confidence in achieving full year Underlying Profit Before Tax 8 , which is nodsadsdadsasdsfdfdfgfdw in line with the prior year . \n In Travel, we have strong forward bookings for the second half of the year. In both Ocean and River Cruise, and in Holidays, we anticipate a further improvement in profitability, driven by higher passenger numbers. \n Insurance has performed well in the first half and we expect this to continue into the second. The underlying trading momentum and the imminent go live of the Ageas 9 partnership present opportunities to invest in policy sale volumes in the second half of the year. These investments are expected to reduce the second-half performance of the Insurance Broking business but put the partnership on a solid foundation for future growth. \n Reducing debt remains a key priority for the Group and following the strong progress in the first half, the full-year leverage ratio is now expected to be below the prior year. \n The Group has made clear operational progress and now has in place strong foundations to achieve our long-term growth ambitions. As such, we remain confident in achieving Underlying Profit Before Tax 8 of at least £100.0m by January 2030, with leverage falling to below 2.0x in the same period. \n 8 Refer to the Alternative Performance Measures Glossary for definition and explanation \n 9 Wholly owned UK subsidiaries of Ageas SA/NV \n Mike Hazell, Saga's Group Chief Executive Officer, said: \n \"I am delighted with the progress we have made in the first six months of this financial year. These are strong results that underline the momentum we have as we continue to deliver our financial and operational objectives. \n \"Our Travel business has performed particularly strongly. Demand for our exceptional Ocean and River Cruise holidays continued to grow and we have seen a material increase in the number of customers enjoying our hotel and touring holidays. In July, we launched our newest River Cruise ship, Spirit of the Moselle, which is already trading well and proving to be very popular with our customers - a clear demonstration of the growth opportunities we have in river cruising. \n \"Trading in our Insurance business was ahead of expectations and we made good progress with our strategy to reengineer our insurance operations. The sale of our Insurance Underwriting business to Ageas 10 completed on 1 July 2025, as expected, and our transformational 20-year Insurance Broking partnership remains on track to go live later this year. \n \"In April, we laid out our plans to deliver underlying profitability of at least £100.0m and leverage below 2.0x by January 2030. Our performance in the first half was a significant step forward towards meeting our targets and it has further reinforced my confidence in the future.\" \n 10 Wholly owned UK subsidiaries of Ageas SA/NV \n END \n Management will hold a presentation for analysts and investors at 9.30am today. The webcast can be accessed by registering at www.investis-live.com/saga-group/689b080a65c9d2000ffa7a5d/hjtjrr and a copy of the presentation slides is available at www.corporate.saga.co.uk/investors/results-reports-presentations/ . \n A separate live presentation for retail investors will be held via the Investor Meet Company platform on 25 September 2025 at 9.30am. The presentation is open to all existing and potential investors. Questions can be submitted pre-event via the Investor Meet Company dashboard up until 9.00am on 24 September 2025, or at any time during the live presentation. Investors can sign up to Investor Meet Company for free and follow Saga plc via www.investormeetcompany.com/saga-plc/register-investor . Investors who already follow Saga plc on the Investor Meet Company platform will automatically be invited. \n For further information, please contact: \n Saga plc \n Sharnj Sandhu, Interim Director of Investor Relations and Treasury          Tel: 07522 985 207 \n                                                                                                                                                 Email: [email protected] \n Headland Consultancy \n Susanna Voyle                                                                                                                       Tel: 07980 894 557 \n Will Smith                                                                                                                              Tel: 07872 350 428 \n Tel: 020 3805 4822 \n Email: [email protected] \n   \n Notes to editors \n Saga is the specialist in the provision of products and services for people over 50. The Saga brand is one of the most recognised and trusted in the UK. Saga is known for its high level of customer service and its high-quality, award-winning products and services including cruises and holidays, insurance, personal financial and publishing. \n www.saga.co.uk \n   \n Divisional performance \n Travel - Continued strong customer demand, drives revenue growth \n Our Travel business had an excellent start to the financial year, with Underlying Profit Before Tax 1 33 % ahead of the same period last year at £ 41.6 m, and Underlying Revenue 1 growth of 9% at £246.7m. Having combined the leadership and operations of our previously separate Cruise and Holidays businesses, we are achieving both improved efficiency and a stronger, more consistent delivery across our full range of holidays. \n   \n Ocean Cruise \n ·      Ocean Cruise reported Underlying Profit Before Tax 1 of £ 34.5 m, a 23 % increase when compared with the prior period. This reflects the ongoing strong demand we are generating for our unique cruise offering, that is driving both repeat bookings and new customers. \n ·      Underlying Revenue 1 increased 8% to £130.9m, as a result of achieving a load factor of 94% and per diem of £391 in the period, with an increase of 4ppts and 8%, respectively, when compared with this time last year. \n   \n River Cruise \n ·      River Cruise reported Underlying Profit Before Tax 1 of £3.9m, a 34% increase when compared with the prior period. Our River Cruise business is continuing to be more closely aligned to the premium service provided by our Ocean Cruise business. This is resulting in improved financial results, higher customer ratings and stronger forward bookings. \n ·      Underlying Revenue 1 was marginally lower by 1% due to reduced capacity, with one less river cruise ship in service for part of the first half of the year. This was offset by a load factor of 93% and per diem of £364 in the period, an increase of 7ppts and 7%, respectively, when compared with this time last year. \n ·      In July, we launched our newest purpose-built River Cruise ship, Spirit of the Moselle, which provides the same excellent quality and experience as the rest of our spirit-class fleet. \n   \n Holidays \n ·      Our Holidays business also had a strong start to the year, with an Underlying Profit Before Tax 1 of £3.2m increasing from £0.3m for the same period last year. \n ·      Underlying Revenue 1 increased by 14% to £89.6m, supported by passenger numbers of 27.8k, a 13% increase when compared with this time last year. \n   \n Insurance Broking - ahead of expectations \n Insurance Broking reported Underlying Profit Before Tax 1,2 of £9.1 m, compared with £11.7m in the same period last year. Our guidance had anticipated a challenging insurance environment as we transition to our Ageas 3 partnership later this year and performance so far has been better than we expected. \n ·      The number of policies sold across all product lines, in the first half of the year, was 0.7m, 3% lower than the prior period. Motor policy sales increased 9% versus the same period last year, alongside a 5% growth in other broking policy sales, comprising of travel and private medical insurance. Home insurance continued to operate in a challenging market, resulting in 19% fewer policy sales. We had 1.2m policies in force at 31 July 2025, 10 % behind the same point last year. \n ·      We are continuing to invest in price and marketing to support policy sales. This benefitted policy sales in the first half of the year and we anticipate investments in the second half to deliver further improvements. \n 1 Refer to the Alternative Performance Measures Glossary for definition and explanation \n 2 From continuing operations \n 3 Wholly owned UK subsidiaries of Ageas SA/NV \n   \n Wider progress \n ·      Our 9.7m strong customer database remains one of our most valuable assets, providing rich insight into our target customer group and extensive market reach. Holding details for 7.7m contactable individuals, it covers almost 1 in 3 people over 50, giving us unparalleled direct reach to a highly engaged audience. This enables us to drive targeted marketing and deepen customer relationships. We augmented our direct marketing by using press, TV, digital and social media marketing channels. \n ·      We have continued to enhance our digital and newsletter operations, delivering strong results. Our award-winning magazine has over 100k subscribers and our magazine website attracts more than 1.3m visits per month, of which 37% are new to Saga. Our insightful newsletters are also driving high levels of customer engagement, with around 10.2m sent each month and achieving open rates of up to 49%. \n ·      We have redesigned our Saga homepage, using our specialist publishing team to make engaging and relevant content its primary focus. This has delivered strong performance across key areas. The average bounce rate has dropped significantly to 14%, down from 40% year-on-year. Visitors are finding the content more compelling and staying for longer. We are seeing an increase in the number of visitors returning each day and importantly, the homepage is driving meaningful traffic to our business units. \n   \n Chairman's Statement \n Saga has, in the first six months of the financial year, made significant financial progress and continued implementing its strategic plans, creating a solid foundation for long-term sustainable growth. Our new debt facilities, signed in February, do not mature until 2031, and give us the financial headroom and flexibility to support our growth. \n We agreed a 20-year insurance partnership with Ageas 1 at the end of last year and have been making great strides in preparing a new operating model that will be introduced later this year. The sale of our Insurance Underwriting business to Ageas 1 , which we successfully completed in July, fundamentally changes the risk profile and complexity of our insurance business and was a major step in transforming our insurance operations. In April, Ageas 1 announced that it had agreed to acquire Esure. After the purchase has been completed, Ageas 1 will become the third largest insurer of motor and home in the UK. The power of our combined businesses, our respective capabilities and Saga's brand should provide a compelling growth opportunity. \n Alongside these strategic developments, our Insurance Broking business has also seen some encouraging trading results, with a strong response to the pricing and marketing investment we have deployed this year. Although, pending our transition to Ageas 1 , home insurance remains a challenging market for us, we have seen policy growth in each of our other three policy lines, motor, travel and private medical insurance. \n In March this year, we combined the leadership and operations of our two travel businesses, Cruise and Holidays. The aim was to create a single Travel business that delivered consistently high-quality customer experiences, tailored for older people, with an effective and efficient operating model. The early results of this change have been very positive. Demand for our ocean and river cruise holidays has continued to grow, as have our customer satisfaction scores. In July we launched our newest purpose-built River Cruise ship, Spirit of the Moselle. It is an excellent addition to our fleet and the demand it is generating demonstrates the great growth potential we have in that part of our business. \n We have also seen strong demand for our hotel and touring holidays, which has led to a significant growth in customer numbers. Alongside this, we have improved our customer satisfaction scores. Saga, the company my mother and father started, has a long history of specialising in taking older people on holiday and working hard to do it well. I am delighted that after almost 75 years, our strength in Travel remains as important to us as it does to our customers. \n Our partnership strategy, continues to develop. It combines Saga's brand and our customer insight and marketing capabilities, with the infrastructure and expertise of third-parties, to deliver great new products and service to our customers. We are attracting interest from organisations in a number of areas. Our NatWest Boxed savings partnership is the latest opportunity to go into development and we are on track to launch the partnership later this year with a new savings product. We expect, working with NatWest Boxed, to begin offering a range of other personal banking products in the future. \n All of this is underpinned by our focus on our customers. Nobody understands older people like Saga and this understanding remains fundamental to everything we do. Our Publishing business is at the core of this, and we have made some great progress in that area. In addition to our first-class magazine, we are using our specialist publishing team to produce digital content for our popular newsletters and redesigned website, dramatically increasing our readership and in turn deepening the insight and engagement we have with customers. \n Mike Hazell and his senior team are doing an outstanding job, supported by the hard work and efforts of their amazing colleagues, which has delivered our successful performance in the first half of the year. I would like to thank everyone within the Group for their dedication and continued support. Their achievements have been quite remarkable and have placed us in a strong position to deliver our exciting vision. We are on track to achieve our medium-term targets that will transform our financial performance, delivering greater shareholder value and excellent products and services for our customers. \n   \n Sir Roger De Haan \n Non-Executive Chairman \n 23 September 2025 \n   \n 1 Wholly owned UK subsidiaries of Ageas SA/NV \n Group Chief Executive Officer's Review \n I am delighted to present an excellent set of results and outline the continued progress we are making on our strategic priorities. \n A strong financial performance \n Our focus on our strategic objectives has begun to deliver excellent trading results, particularly in our Travel business. Underlying Revenue 1,2 grew by 7% in the first half of the year, to £320.5m, supporting an 8% increase in Trading EBITDA 1,2 , which rose to £67.5m. \n Following the successful disposal of our Insurance Underwriting business in July, Underlying Profit Before Tax 1,2 was £23.5m for the first half of the year, compared with £24.8m for same period last year. This marginal drop reflects the increased financing costs we indicated in our previous guidance, following the refinancing of our corporate debt facilities, offset by the strong growth in our trading profits. \n Our actions over the past six months have put the Group in a good position, translating into strong profit growth and a solid outlook. Our profit before tax 2 has improved from a loss of £116.9m in the first half of last year, to £ 3.7 m profit this year, reflecting both our positive trading performance and the end of Insurance Broking goodwill impairments that have impacted previous years' profits. \n Reducing our debt remains a key priority and we have seen appreciable reduction in the first half of the year. At 31 July 2025, Net Debt 1 was £515.1m, £77.7m lower than at 31 January 2025. \n Significant strategic progress \n Alongside our strong first half trading performance, we have made significant progress in realising our strategic growth plans. We completed the refinancing of our corporate debt in February, putting in place, new long term funding facilities, which will mature in 2031. These facilities, combined with the progress we are making in deleveraging, as part of our long-term debt reduction target, put the Group in a strong balance sheet position. \n The sale of our Insurance Underwriting business, completed in July, represented a significant step towards a less complex, lower risk operation, exemplified by the insurance partnership we are building with Ageas 3 . Progress on the Insurance Broking partnership with Ageas 3 is advancing on track to be launched later this year. The powerful combination of Saga's customer insight and marketing capabilities, with Ageas's 3 first-class insurance infrastructure and expertise, will be a step change for our Insurance business and significantly improve our ability to continue to offer excellent quality and, differentiated insurance products to our customers. \n Insurance is not the only part of our Group to attract high profile partners. In July, our Money business announced an exciting new savings partnership with NatWest Boxed, that will enable us to provide an innovative suite of savings products designed for people over 50. \n 1 Refer to the Alternative Performance Measures Glossary for definition and explanation \n 2 From continuing operations \n 3 W holly owned UK subsidiaries of Ageas SA/NV \n   \n Our strategy \n Everything we do is driven by our aim to meet the needs of the segment of the population we serve. Nobody understands older people better than Saga and for over 70 years we have been designing and delivering differentiated products and services exclusively for them. We are 'the' trusted brand for people over 50 and our strategy is to work tirelessly to protect that position. Our priorities are to build on these core strengths and to continue to develop our existing business lines and explore new and complementary areas to deliver long-term sustainable growth: \n 1.    Maximising the growth of our existing businesses \n In the short-term, our success will lie in maximising the opportunities that are in our existing businesses - Travel, Insurance and Money. These are long established successful businesses with significant growth potential and they underpin our long-term strategy. We serve an attractive and growing market with an instantly recognisable and trusted brand and all our businesses have growth plans in place to maximise the opportunities that this brings. \n   \n 2.    Driving incremental growth through new business lines and products \n We exist to meet the growing needs of older people and there are many opportunities to do this beyond the businesses and product lines we have today. We have laid strong foundations and are well positioned to supplement growth by offering older people additional products and services they need. Our main focus will remain on our existing core businesses and these longer-term opportunities will build over time. \n   \n 3.    Growing our customer base and deepening those relationships \n Understanding and engaging with our customers is a vital part of Saga's strategy and essential for its long-term success. Our Publishing team celebrate the lifestyles of older people, producing engaging content through our magazine, website and newsletters that in turn provides interactions with our customer base and constantly improves our insight and understanding. When combined with the daily interactions our customers have with each of our businesses, the result is a unique and constantly deepening understanding of our customers that informs both our product development and how we promote our services. Recognising the importance of this process, protecting it and building it, will remain key to our future success. \n   \n 4.    Reducing debt, while simplifying our operations \n We recognise that our future success will be built on finding simple and agile routes to achieve our aims. We are streamlining our operations and, where appropriate, leveraging partner infrastructure and capabilities to ensure that we continue to design and market great products for our customers, supported by first class service and by the most efficient and effective operating model. This strategy will deliver growth and allow us to continue to reduce the level of debt across our business. \n   \n Business performance \n Travel \n Saga has been taking older customers on holiday for over 70 years. Our experience in understanding and meeting the needs of those customers is fundamental to our success. Earlier this year, we combined the management teams and operations of our Cruise and Holidays businesses, in order to be able to operate a more efficient and effective operating model and deliver a constantly high level of service to all our customers. Led by our hugely experienced Saga Travel leadership team, the early results have been excellent. \n   \n Cruise \n Demand for our unique boutique ocean cruises is stronger than ever and we have seen an excellent start to the year, continuing the momentum generated in previous years. Our focus is always on enhancing the quality, value and service we offer our customers. This year we have extended the range of our chauffeur car service so that all our customers will now be able to benefit from this hassle-free experience and receive exceptional service from the moment they leave their front door. \n Our cruises are tailored for our customers; our reservation systems, the design of our smaller luxury ships, on-board hospitality, and our itineraries. As a result, our customer satisfaction levels are excellent. Our transaction net promoter score ( tNPS) increased to 85, from 81, during the first half of the year, and repeat customers made up 65% of our bookings. \n The result of this focus can be seen in our load factors and per diems, both growing strongly. Bookings for the full year, at 21 September 2025 reflect a 92% load factor and a per diem of £395, increases of 2ppts and 10%, respectively, compared with the same period last year. \n River Cruise also had a positive start to the year and continues to go from strength to strength. In July we launched Spirit of the Moselle. This new addition to the fleet provides our customers with more choice and we have another new river cruise ship we plan to bring into service in 2027.   \n In aligning service standards on our river cruises with those of ocean cruises, we have generated significantly higher customer satisfaction and greater demand. Bookings for the full year, at 21 September 2025 deliver a load factor a 87% and a per diem of £351, 1ppt lower and 7% higher, respectively on last year. The improvement in tNPS from 56 to 67 this year, shows the progress we have made of customer experience. \n Holidays \n Our touring and hotel stay holidays, also had a very good start to the year. Passenger volumes were up 13% versus the same period last year and profits increased from £0.3m to £3.2m for the first half of the year. We have also delivered a significant improvement in customer satisfaction, with Holidays tNPS increasing to 55, from 44 in the same period last year. \n For the full year, booked revenue at 21 September 2025 was £183.6m, 14% higher than the £161.7m at the same time last year from a higher volume of passengers, which increased 12%, to 60.8k, from 54.2k. \n Our improved customer satisfaction ratings combined with our plans to expand our product range, provide a solid platform for continued growth. Our decision to include our nationwide chauffer; door to airport service, in all our holiday packages from April next year has been well received. \n   \n Insurance Broking \n Our insurance business has been through a difficult few years, impacted by a highly competitive market, industry wide inflation and cost pressures that limited our ability to fully respond to these challenges. However, the sale of our Underwriting business has simplified our operations and under our new insurance leadership team, Saga's Broking business has been trading ahead of expectations. In the first six months of the financial year, three out of our four personal insurance lines have seen policy growth and while home insurance remains under pressure, pending our transition to Ageas 4 , it is outperforming our expectations. In addition to enhancing our pricing competitiveness and marketing efforts, we have placed renewed focus on customer service, following a period of stress and disruption in our insurance operations. The result has been an encouraging improvement in call answer rates and significantly improved customer satisfaction - with tNPS rising from 56 last year to 65 this year. \n Performance in motor policy sales was particularly strong, in the first half of this financial year, with a 9% increase in the number of policies sold. The strategic pricing actions we took aimed to improve our competitiveness have delivered encouraging results, with new business policy sales volumes increasing by 47% year-on-year. \n Home policy sales were 19% lower than the prior year, most significantly due to a reduced number of renewal opportunities given the decline in policy numbers last year. Net rate inflation continues to be a dampening factor for our home insurance business, with panel price increases reducing our price competitiveness as panel members seek to make up for the impact of past inflation and losses. We are nonetheless working hard to mitigate the impact of this and our partnership with Ageas 4 , which is due to go live later this financial year, will remove our exposure to the panel. \n Policy sales from our travel and private medical insurance were 5.3% higher, when compared with the prior year. Policy sales of travel insurance performed particularly well. Changes we have made to improve our product offering in this area; the introduction of product tiering and investment in pricing and marketing has proven very successful and is something we will build on in the second half of the year. \n We had anticipated a challenging year while we made the necessary arrangements to transition our motor and home insurance operation to Ageas 4 . The combined result has been a 3% decline in overall number of policies sold, however our performance has been better than our expectations. We remain excited and confident of the growth opportunities ahead. \n   \n Money \n In the first half of the year Money reported an Underlying Profit Before Tax 5 of £0.2m broadly consistent with £0.4m in the prior period. \n As part of our strategy to develop new products, our Money business entered into a seven-year partnership with NatWest Boxed. This partnership will enable us to launch an innovative suite of products that recognises and caters for, the distinct needs and preferences of people over 50. \n We continue our focus on building awareness of the products and services available to support the financial needs of our customers through our popular Money newsletters, which are currently distributed to 0.8m readers every week and through free webinars that cover a range of topics including estate planning, wills and the housing market. \n 4 W holly owned UK subsidiaries of Ageas SA/NV \n 5 Refer to the Alternative Performance Measures Glossary for definition and explanation \n   \n Building a stronger culture \n Our ability to provide our customers with exceptional products and service is a result of the hard work, dedication and collaboration of our colleagues . To ensure we continue to deliver the best experience for our customers, it is crucial that we listen to feedback from our colleagues and respond appropriately. We are doing this and fostering a culture that empowers everyone to contribute, creating a positive environment that supports the team and our customers. \n The recent colleague survey, which showed an engagement score of 7.9 out of 10, is a clear indication of the strong commitment and dedication from our colleagues. This high level of engagement reflects the positive culture we are building. By acting on the insights from our surveys, we can continue to create an environment where colleagues feel valued, supported and empowered to contribute to our ongoing success. \n Delivering on our plans \n In the past six months, we have made clear progress and this achievement is a testament to the unwavering dedication and hard work from my colleagues. I thank them all for their commitment and contribution in making Saga a great place to work and for continuing to deliver exceptional experiences for our customers every day. \n We are trading ahead of our expectations while implementing significant strategic change that will underpin our future growth. Having laid out our five-year growth plans in April, we are only in the early stages of delivery. However, with six months of strong trading behind us, we remain very confident in achieving the targets we have set and the long-term potential we are unlocking along the way. \n   \n Mike Hazell \n Group Chief Executive Officer \n 23 September 2025 \n   \n Group Chief Financial Officer's Review \n The Group has made significant progress in the first half of the year. The trading of the Group for the period is ahead of expectations, with a strong performance in Travel and Insurance Broking. The strong momentum in the first half means that the Group is on track to achieve full year Underlying Profit Before Tax 1 that is now expected to be in line with the prior year . \n In Travel, we have strong forward bookings for the second half of the year in both Ocean and River Cruises, and in Holidays we anticipate a further improvement in profitability driven by higher passenger numbers. \n Insurance Broking has performed well in the first half and we expect this to continue into the second. The underlying trading momentum and the imminent go live of the Ageas 2 partnership present opportunities to invest in policy volumes in the second half of the year. These investments are expected to reduce the second half performance of the Insurance Broking business but put the partnership on a solid foundation for future growth. \n The Group has also made significant progress against our strategic objective to reduce debt, with the completion of the refinancing of the Group's near-term debt maturities in February and the completion of the sale of the Group's Insurance Underwriting business to Ageas 2 on 1 July 2025. Which delivered £17.0m more cash than expected, as a result of £7m of net asset valuation and deduction adjustments alongside £10.0m of pre-completion dividends. At 31 July 2025, Net Debt 1 was £515.1m, which was £77.7m lower than at 31 January 2025. The increase in Trading EBITDA 1 meant that Leverage Ratio 1 reduced from 4.4x 3 at 31 January 2025 to 4.3x. \n Following the strong cash generation in the first half, the full year leverage ratio is now expected to be below the prior year. \n With the momentum seen in the first half, there is a clear opportunity for material growth in the future. We remain confident in delivering at least £100.0m of annual Underlying Profit Before Tax 1 , while reducing the Leverage Ratio 1 to below 2.0x, by January 2030. \n For the six months ended 31 July 2025, the Group's Underlying Profit Before Tax 1,4 was £23.5m, marginally lower than the prior period, reflecting strong performance in our Travel businesses and Insurance Broking. This increased trading performance was offset by the increase in finance cost, which was driven by the refinancing of the Group's corporate debt at the beginning of the year, to higher interest rates. \n Following the agreement with Ageas 2 , which included the sale of Acromas Insurance Company Limited ( AICL ) and the move to a 20-year partnership for motor and home insurance, our Insurance Underwriting operations, alongside all associated accounting adjustments, have been classified as discontinued operations. \n The Group reported a profit before tax 4 of £3.7m and a loss before tax of £3.7m including discontinued operations, compared with a loss before tax of £104.0m in the prior y ear, which included an impairment of Insurance Broking goodwill of £138.3m. \n The Group continues to remain highly cash-generative, with Available Operating Cash Flow 1 of £89.4m, driven by an increase in cash generation from Ocean Cruise, Insurance Broking and a £10.0m dividend paid by Insurance Underwriting. The Group's available liquidity comprised of £140.1m of Available Cash 1 , the £33.4m undrawn Revolving Credit Facility ( RCF ) and £116.6m undrawn delayed-draw term loan ( DDTL ) provided by HPS Funds 5 . \n 1 Refer to the Alternative Performance Measures Glossary for definition and explanation \n 2 Wholly owned UK subsidiaries of Ageas SA/NV \n 3 Following the Group's refinancing and revised covenant definition, Net Debt and Leverage Ratio have been updated for 31 January 2025 \n 4 From continuing operations \n 5 Certain funds, entities (or affiliates or subsidiaries of such funds or entities) and/or accounts managed, advised or controlled by HPS Investment Partners, LLC or its subsidiaries \n   \n Operating performance \n Group income statement \n \n \n \n \n £m \n \n \n 6m to July 2025 \n \n \n   \n \n \n 6m to July 2024 \n \n \n \n \n Continuing operations \n \n \n Discontinued operations \n \n \n Total \n \n \n Change \n \n \n Continuing operations \n \n \n Discontinued operations \n \n \n Total \n \n \n \n \n   \n \n \n   \n \n \n   \n \n \n   \n \n \n   \n \n \n   \n \n \n   \n \n \n   \n \n \n \n \n Underlying Revenue 6 \n \n \n 320.5 \n \n \n 60.5 \n \n \n 381.0 \n \n \n (3.1%) \n \n \n 298.2 \n \n \n 95.1 \n \n \n 393.3 \n \n \n \n \n   \n \n \n   \n \n \n   \n \n \n   \n \n \n   \n \n \n   \n \n \n   \n \n \n   \n \n \n \n \n Underlying Profit Before Tax 6 \n \n \n   \n \n \n   \n \n \n   \n \n \n   \n \n \n   \n \n \n   \n \n \n   \n \n \n \n \n Travel \n \n \n 41.6 \n \n \n - \n \n \n 41.6 \n \n \n 33.3% \n \n \n 31.2 \n \n \n - \n \n \n 31.2 \n \n \n \n \n Insurance Broking (earned) \n \n \n 9.1 \n \n \n (0.4) \n \n \n 8.7 \n \n \n (28.7%) \n \n \n 11.7 \n \n \n 0.5 \n \n \n 12.2 \n \n \n \n \n Insurance Underwriting \n \n \n - \n \n \n 15.6 \n \n \n 15.6 \n \n \n >500.0% \n \n \n - \n \n \n 1.9 \n \n \n 1.9 \n \n \n \n \n Total Insurance \n \n \n 9.1 \n \n \n 15.2 \n \n \n 24.3 \n \n \n 72.3% \n \n \n 11.7 \n \n \n 2.4 \n \n \n 14.1 \n \n \n \n \n Other Businesses and Central Costs \n \n \n (6.7) \n \n \n - \n \n \n (6.7) \n \n \n (28.8%) \n \n \n (5.2) \n \n \n - \n \n \n (5.2) \n \n \n \n \n Net finance costs 7 \n \n \n (20.5) \n \n \n - \n \n \n (20.5) \n \n \n (58.9%) \n \n \n (12.9) \n \n \n - \n \n \n (12.9) \n \n \n \n \n Underlying Profit Before Tax 6 \n \n \n 23.5 \n \n \n 15.2 \n \n \n 38.7 \n \n \n 42.3% \n \n \n 24.8 \n \n \n 2.4 \n \n \n 27.2 \n \n \n \n \n Impairment of Insurance Broking goodwill \n \n \n - \n \n \n - \n \n \n - \n \n \n 100.0% \n \n \n (138.3) \n \n \n - \n \n \n (138.3) \n \n \n \n \n Other exceptional items \n \n \n (19.8) \n \n \n (22.6) \n \n \n (42.4) \n \n \n (>500.0%) \n \n \n (3.4) \n \n \n 10.5 \n \n \n 7.1 \n \n \n \n \n Profit/(loss) before tax \n \n \n 3.7 \n \n \n (7.4) \n \n \n (3.7) \n \n \n 96.4% \n \n \n (116.9) \n \n \n 12.9 \n \n \n (104.0) \n \n \n \n \n Tax credit/(expense) \n \n \n 2.2 \n \n \n (1.9) \n \n \n 0.3 \n \n \n 114.3% \n \n \n 1.3 \n \n \n (3.4) \n \n \n (2.1) \n \n \n \n \n Profit/(loss) after tax \n \n \n 5.9 \n \n \n (9.3) \n \n \n (3.4) \n \n \n 96.8% \n \n \n (115.6) \n \n \n 9.5 \n \n \n (106.1) \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n   \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Earnings/(loss) per share \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n   \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Underlying Earnings Per Share 6 \n \n \n 16.8p \n \n \n 10.9p \n \n \n 27.7p \n \n \n 54.7% \n \n \n 16.3p \n \n \n 1.6p \n \n \n 17.9p \n \n \n \n \n Earnings/(loss) per share \n \n \n 4.2p \n \n \n (6.6p) \n \n \n (2.4p) \n \n \n 96.8% \n \n \n (82.7p) \n \n \n 6.8p \n \n \n (75.9p) \n \n \n \n \n \nThe Group's business model is based on providing high-quality and differentiated products to its target demographic, predominantly focussed on travel and insurance. The Travel businesses comprise Ocean Cruise, River Cruise and Holidays. The Insurance business operates mainly as a broker, sourcing underwriting capacity from selected third-party insurance companies, and, for motor and home, also from the Group's in-house underwriter until the sale of AICL to Ageas 8 , which completed on 1 July 2025. Other Businesses include Money, Publishing and CustomerKNECT, a mailing and printing business. \n Underlying Revenue 6 \n Underlying Revenue 6 decreased 3.1% to £381.0m (H1 2024: £393.3m), mainly due to lower revenue in the Group's Insurance Underwriting business. The sale of the Group's Insurance Underwriting business to Ageas 8 completed on 1 July 2025. \n Underlying Profit Before Tax 6 \n The Group generated a total Underlying Profit Before Tax 6 of £38.7m in the first half of the current year, compared with £27.2m in the first half of the prior year. This is primarily due to a: \n ·      £10.4m increase in Travel, moving to an Underlying Profit Before Tax 6 of £41.6m (H1 2024: £31.2m), with £6.5m driven by Ocean Cruise; and \n ·      Underlying Profit Before Tax 6 in Insurance Underwriting of £15.6m (H1 2024: £1.9m). \n These were partially offset by a £3.5m reduction in Insurance Broking profitability due to difficult trading conditions, particularly within home. \n Net finance costs 7 in the period were £20.5m (H1 2024: £12.9m), which excludes finance costs within the Ocean Cruise business of £7.7m (H1 2024: £8.2m) and Insurance Underwriting business of £3.0m (H1 2024: £1.9m). The increase was predominantly driven by the refinancing of the Group's corporate debt at the beginning of the year at materially higher interest rates. \n Loss before tax \n The loss before tax for the period, of £3.7m, includes a net negative of other exceptional items of £42.4m, consisting of: \n Continuing operations \n ·    costs relating to the transition to the 20-year partnership for motor and home insurance with Ageas 8 (the Affinity Partnership ) of £2.9m; \n ·    restructuring costs of £14.8m; \n ·    costs and fees associated with the Group's previous corporate debt including accelerated amortisation of fees relating to the loan facility provided by Roger De Haan, totalling £7.6m; \n ·    fair value losses of £0.4m on derivatives; \n ·    a negative International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) 16 'Leases' adjustment of £0.1m on River Cruise ships; \n ·    £0.3m Ocean Cruise dry dock costs; \n ·    Impairments to assets and loss on disposal of assets of £0.4m; \n ·    foreign exchange losses on River Cruise ship leases of £0.8m; \n ·    onerous contract provisions net positive of £1.3m on three-year fixed-price policies; \n ·    release of deferred income associated with home and motor three year fixed priced policies of £6.2m; \n Discontinued operations \n ·    onerous contract provisions net negative of £4.3m on insurance contracts under IFRS 17; \n ·    restructuring costs of £0.1m; \n ·    loss on disposal of subsidiaries of £23.9m relating to the disposal of the Insurance Underwriting business; \n ·    a £0.1m negative change in discount rate on non-periodical payment order ( PPO ) insurance liabilities; \n ·    release of the written to earned adjustment following the sale of the Insurance Underwriting business of £3.6m; and \n ·    fair value gains on debt securities of £2.2m. \n The loss before tax in the prior period, of £104.0m, includes a £138.3m impairment to Insurance Broking goodwill and a net positive of other exceptional items of £7.1m, consisting of: \n Continuing operations \n ·    onerous contract provisions net positive of £2.1m on three-year fixed-price policies; \n ·    foreign exchange gains on River Cruise ship leases of £0.5m; \n ·    restructuring costs of £4.1m; \n ·    costs associated with the unsecured loan facility provided by Roger De Haan of £1.2m; \n ·    fair value losses of £0.6m on derivatives; and \n ·    a negative IFRS 16 adjustment of £0.1m on River Cruise ships. \n Discontinued operations \n ·    onerous contract provisions net positive of £7.6m on insurance contracts under IFRS 17; \n ·    fair value gains on debt securities of £2.7m; \n ·    a £0.3m positive change in discount rate on non-PPO insurance liabilities; \n ·    restructuring costs of £0.1m; \n   \n Tax \n The Group's tax credit for the period was £0.3m (H1 2024: £2.1m), representing a tax effective rate of 8.1% (H1 2024: 6.1%), excluding the Insurance Broking goodwill impairment charge. In both the current and prior periods, the difference between the Group's tax effective rate and the standard rate of corporation tax was mainly due to the Group's Ocean Cruise business being in the tonnage tax regime. In addition, in the current period it is also due to all temporary differences at 31 July 2025 not being considered recoverable and, therefore, no deferred tax assets were recognised for these temporary differences. This is the result of the change in mix of profitability within the Group, where the majority of the Group's profits now come from the Ocean Cruise business, whereas the Insurance Broking business has been in decline. \n There was also an adjustment in the current period for the under-provision of prior year tax of £0.9m debit (H1 2024: £0.3m credit). Excluding the impact of the Ocean Cruise business being in the tonnage tax regime, the Insurance goodwill impairment, the adjustments to prior year tax and the non-recognition of net deferred tax assets, the tax effective rate for the current year is 9.1% (H1 2024: 35.8%). \n Earnings/(loss) per share \n The Group's Underlying Basic Earnings Per Share 6 was 27.7p (H1 2024: 17.9p). The Group's reported basic loss per share was 2.4p (H1 2024: loss of 75.9p). \n 6 Refer to the Alternative Performance Measures Glossary for definition and explanation \n 7 Net finance costs exclude Ocean Cruise and Insurance Underwriting finance costs and Travel net fair value losses on derivatives \n 8 Wholly owned UK subsidiaries of Ageas SA/NV \n   \n Travel \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n 6m to July 2025 \n \n \n   \n \n \n 6m to July 2024 \n \n \n   \n \n \n \n \n £m \n \n \n Ocean Cruise \n \n \n River Cruise \n \n \n Holidays \n \n \n Total Travel \n \n \n Change \n \n \n Ocean Cruise \n \n \n River Cruise \n \n \n Holidays \n \n \n Total Travel \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Underlying Revenue 9 \n \n \n 130.9 \n \n \n 26.2 \n \n \n 89.6 \n \n \n 246.7 \n \n \n 8.8% \n \n \n 121.5 \n \n \n 26.4 \n \n \n 78.9 \n \n \n 226.8 \n \n \n \n \n Gross profit \n \n \n 57.3 \n \n \n 9.4 \n \n \n 20.6 \n \n \n 87.3 \n \n \n 14.3% \n \n \n 52.1 \n \n \n 7.8 \n \n \n 16.5 \n \n \n 76.4 \n \n \n \n \n Marketing expenses \n \n \n (6.7) \n \n \n (3.2) \n \n \n (7.4) \n \n \n (17.3) \n \n \n (14.6%) \n \n \n (6.8) \n \n \n (2.4) \n \n \n (5.9) \n \n \n (15.1) \n \n \n \n \n Other operating expenses \n \n \n (8.4) \n \n \n (2.6) \n \n \n (10.7) \n \n \n (21.7) \n \n \n 4.4% \n \n \n (9.1) \n \n \n (2.7) \n \n \n (10.9) \n \n \n (22.7) \n \n \n \n \n Investment return \n \n \n - \n \n \n 0.3 \n \n \n 0.7 \n \n \n 1.0 \n \n \n 25.0% \n \n \n - \n \n \n 0.2 \n \n \n 0.6 \n \n \n 0.8 \n \n \n \n \n Finance costs \n \n \n (7.7) \n \n \n - \n \n \n - \n \n \n (7.7) \n \n \n 6.1% \n \n \n (8.2) \n \n \n - \n \n \n - \n \n \n (8.2) \n \n \n \n \n Underlying Profit Before Tax 9 \n \n \n 34.5 \n \n \n 3.9 \n \n \n 3.2 \n \n \n 41.6 \n \n \n 33.3% \n \n \n 28.0 \n \n \n 2.9 \n \n \n 0.3 \n \n \n 31.2 \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n   \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Average revenue per passenger (£) \n \n \n 5,818 \n \n \n 3,157 \n \n \n 3,223 \n \n \n 4,210 \n \n \n 5.2% \n \n \n 5,170 \n \n \n 3,034 \n \n \n 3,220 \n \n \n 4,000 \n \n \n \n \n Ocean Cruise load factor \n \n \n 94% \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n 94% \n \n \n 4ppt \n \n \n 90% \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n 90% \n \n \n \n \n Ocean Cruise per diem (£) \n \n \n 391 \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n 391 \n \n \n 8.0% \n \n \n 362 \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n 362 \n \n \n \n \n River Cruise load factor \n \n \n \n \n \n 93% \n \n \n \n \n \n 93% \n \n \n 7ppt \n \n \n \n \n \n 86% \n \n \n \n \n \n 86% \n \n \n \n \n River Cruise per diem (£) \n \n \n \n \n \n 364 \n \n \n \n \n \n 364 \n \n \n 7.1% \n \n \n \n \n \n 340 \n \n \n \n \n \n 340 \n \n \n \n \n Passengers ('000) \n \n \n 22.5 \n \n \n 8.3 \n \n \n 27.8 \n \n \n 58.6 \n \n \n 3.4% \n \n \n 23.5 \n \n \n 8.7 \n \n \n 24.5 \n \n \n 56.7 \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n   \n Ocean Cruise \n The Ocean Cruise business owns two Ocean Cruise ships, Spirit of Discovery and Spirit of Adventure. \n The business achieved a load factor of 94% (H1 2024: 90%) and a per diem of £391 (H1 2024: £362). These two factors, when combined, equated to Underlying Revenue 9 growth of 7.7% and resulted in a 23.2% increase in profitability, from an Underlying Profit Before Tax 9 of £28.0m in the first half of the prior year, to £34.5m in the first half of the current year. \n River Cruise \n At the beginning of the year, the River Cruise business had 10-year charters in place for two boutique purpose-built River Cruise ships, Spirit of the Rhine and Spirit of the Danube, alongside one other shorter-term charter. In July 2025, the business took delivery of its third boutique purpose-built River Cruise ship, Spirit of the Moselle. \n In the first half of the year, the business achieved a load factor of 93% (H1 2024: 86%) and a per diem of £364 (H1 2024: £340). Passenger numbers have decreased from 8.7k to 8.3k due to having one less River Cruise ship in service for the majority of the first half of the current year compared with the first half of the prior year. Despite this, Underlying Revenue 9 was broadly flat with the prior period at £26.2m (H1 2024: £26.4m) and achieved growth of 34.5% in profitability, to an Underlying Profit Before Tax 9 of £3.9m (H1 2024: £2.9m). \n Holidays \n The Holidays business, which includes both the Saga Holidays and Titan brands, increased volumes when compared to the first half of the prior year, with passenger numbers increasing from 24.5k to 27.8k. Revenue  per passenger was broadly flat at £3,223 (H1 2024: £3,220), driven by a passenger preference of travelling to Europe over long-haul destinations due to the geopolitical environment in the first half of the current year. \n This led to Underlying Revenue 9 growth of 13.6% and an increase in profitability, from an Underlying Profit Before Tax 9 of £0.3m in the first half of the prior year, to £3.2m in the first half of the current year. \n Forward Travel sales \n The Ocean Cruise load factor for the full year is 92%, 2ppts ahead of the same point last year. This was driven by an improved load factor in both the first and second half of the year, when compared with the previous year. The per diem for 2025/26 is 10.0% higher than the same period last year, reflecting continued strong customer demand. \n Looking ahead to 2026/27, Ocean Cruise load factor is 3ppts ahead of the prior year position, with the per diem 13.2% ahead. \n The River Cruise load factor for 2025/26 is marginally behind the same point last year, by 1ppt, reflecting a higher load factor in the first half of the year, but a lower load factor in the second. The load factor split being impacted by the timing of the delivery of our new River Cruise ship, Spirit of the Moselle. The revenue management approach has been focussed on optimising load factors on a month-by-month basis and prioritising the earlier months first. The per diem for the full year is 7.3% ahead, reflecting strong customer demand. \n River Cruise bookings for next year are ahead of the previous year, with the load factor 5ppts ahead and the per diem 6.6% ahead. \n Holidays bookings for 2025/26 are ahead of the same point last year by 13.5% and 12.2% for revenue and passengers respectively. The increase in revenue is due to the uptick in passenger numbers, reflecting the increase uptake across short- and long-haul touring and stays. \n Holidays bookings for 2026/27 are currently behind of the same point last year by 4.8% in revenue and 7.4% in passenger volumes. Marketing activity has so far been focussed on in-year trading, with attention now shifting to 2026. The planned activity should bridge the gap by the end of January 2026. This impact is partially offset by stronger performance in hosted stays, which are ahead of the prior year, supported by the introduction of our nationwide chauffeur service included in all hosted stays packages departing from 1 April 2026. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Current year departures \n \n \n   \n \n \n Next year departures \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n 21 September 2025 \n \n \n Change \n \n \n 22 September 2024 \n \n \n   \n \n \n 21 September 2025 \n \n \n Change \n \n \n 22 September 2024 \n \n \n \n \n Ocean Cruise revenue (£m) \n \n \n 256.7 \n \n \n 12.8% \n \n \n 227.6 \n \n \n \n \n \n 159.4 \n \n \n 21.2% \n \n \n 131.5 \n \n \n \n \n Ocean Cruise load factor \n \n \n 92% \n \n \n 2ppts \n \n \n 90% \n \n \n \n \n \n 51% \n \n \n 3ppts \n \n \n 48% \n \n \n \n \n Ocean Cruise per diem (£) \n \n \n 395 \n \n \n 10.0% \n \n \n 359 \n \n \n \n \n \n 437 \n \n \n 13.2% \n \n \n 386 \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n   \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n   \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n River Cruise revenue (£m) \n \n \n 51.6 \n \n \n 4.9% \n \n \n 49.2 \n \n \n \n \n \n 21.6 \n \n \n 38.5% \n \n \n 15.6 \n \n \n \n \n River Cruise load factor \n \n \n 87% \n \n \n (1ppts) \n \n \n 88% \n \n \n \n \n \n 31% \n \n \n 5ppts \n \n \n 26% \n \n \n \n \n River Cruise per diem (£) \n \n \n 351 \n \n \n 7.3% \n \n \n 327 \n \n \n \n \n \n 371 \n \n \n 6.6% \n \n \n 348 \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n   \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n   \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Holidays revenue (£m) \n \n \n 183.6 \n \n \n 13.5% \n \n \n 161.7 \n \n \n \n \n \n 68.1 \n \n \n (4.8%) \n \n \n 71.5 \n \n \n \n \n Holidays passengers ('000) \n \n \n 60.8 \n \n \n 12.2% \n \n \n 54.2 \n \n \n \n \n \n 18.7 \n \n \n (7.4%) \n \n \n 20.2 \n \n \n \n \n   \n 9 Refer to the Alternative Performance Measures Glossary for definition and explanation \n   \n Insurance \n Insurance Broking \n The Insurance Broking business provides tailored insurance products, principally motor, home, private medical insurance ( PMI ) and travel insurance. Its role is to price the policies and source the lowest risk price, whether through the panel of motor and home underwriters or through solus arrangements for PMI and travel insurance. \n Up until its sale to Ageas 10 on 1 July 2025, the Group had an in-house insurer, AICL, sitting on the motor and home panels where it competed for that business with other panel members on equal terms. AICL offered its underwriting capacity on the home panel through a coinsurance deal with a third party, so the Group took no underwriting risk for that product. Even if underwritten by a third party, the offering is presented as a Saga product and the Group manages the customer relationship. AICL continues to sit on the motor and home panels following its sale. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n 6m to July 2025 \n \n \n \n \n \n 6m to July 2024 \n \n \n \n \n £m \n \n \n Motor broking \n \n \n Home broking \n \n \n Other broking \n \n \n Total \n \n \n Change \n \n \n Motor broking \n \n \n Home broking \n \n \n Other broking \n \n \n Total \n \n \n \n \n Gross Written Premiums 11 \n \n \n   \n \n \n   \n \n \n   \n \n \n   \n \n \n   \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Brokered \n \n \n 70.0 \n \n \n 66.6 \n \n \n 67.4 \n \n \n 204.0 \n \n \n ( 3.3%) \n \n \n 65.1 \n \n \n 81.1 \n \n \n 64.8 \n \n \n 211.0 \n \n \n \n \n Underwritten \n \n \n 75.2 \n \n \n - \n \n \n 0.5 \n \n \n 75.7 \n \n \n (15.1%) \n \n \n 88.0 \n \n \n - \n \n \n 1.2 \n \n \n 89.2 \n \n \n \n \n Gross Written Premiums \n \n \n 145.2 \n \n \n 66.6 \n \n \n 67.9 \n \n \n 279.7 \n \n \n (6.8%) \n \n \n 153.1 \n \n \n 81.1 \n \n \n 66.0 \n \n \n 300.2 \n \n \n \n \n Broker revenue \n \n \n 6.2 \n \n \n 2.7 \n \n \n 22.9 \n \n \n 31.8 \n \n \n (0.3%) \n \n \n 4.7 \n \n \n 6.7 \n \n \n 20.5 \n \n \n 31.9 \n \n \n \n \n Instalment revenue \n \n \n 2.0 \n \n \n 1.6 \n \n \n - \n \n \n 3.6 \n \n \n 9.1% \n \n \n 1.6 \n \n \n 1.7 \n \n \n - \n \n \n 3.3 \n \n \n \n \n Add-on revenue \n \n \n 3.9 \n \n \n 3.0 \n \n \n - \n \n \n 6.9 \n \n \n (11.5%) \n \n \n 3.8 \n \n \n 4.0 \n \n \n - \n \n \n 7.8 \n \n \n \n \n Other revenue \n \n \n 14.2 \n \n \n 7.3 \n \n \n 1.2 \n \n \n 22.7 \n \n \n 11.8% \n \n \n 14.3 \n \n \n 8.6 \n \n \n (2.6) \n \n \n 20.3 \n \n \n \n \n Written Underlying Revenue 11 \n \n \n 26.3 \n \n \n 14.6 \n \n \n 24.1 \n \n \n 65.0 \n \n \n 2.7 % \n \n \n 24.4 \n \n \n 21.0 \n \n \n 17.9 \n \n \n 63.3 \n \n \n \n \n Written gross profit \n \n \n 23.6 \n \n \n 14.6 \n \n \n 26.2 \n \n \n 64.4 \n \n \n (0.3 %) \n \n \n 21.8 \n \n \n 21.0 \n \n \n 21.8 \n \n \n 64.6 \n \n \n \n \n Marketing expenses \n \n \n (6.8) \n \n \n (2.7) \n \n \n (3.7) \n \n \n (13.2) \n \n \n ( 21.1%) \n \n \n (4.4) \n \n \n (2.9) \n \n \n (3.6) \n \n \n (10.9) \n \n \n \n \n Written Gross Profit After Marketing Expenses 11 \n \n \n 16.8 \n \n \n 11.9 \n \n \n 22.5 \n \n \n 51.2 \n \n \n (4.7%) \n \n \n 17.4 \n \n \n 18.1 \n \n \n 18.2 \n \n \n 53.7 \n \n \n \n \n Other operating expenses \n \n \n (18.0) \n \n \n (11.6) \n \n \n (12.7) \n \n \n (42.3) \n \n \n (0.5%) \n \n \n (16.7) \n \n \n (12.5) \n \n \n (12.9) \n \n \n (42.1) \n \n \n \n \n Written Underlying  (Loss)/Profit Before Tax 11 \n \n \n (1.2) \n \n \n 0.3 \n \n \n 9.8 \n \n \n 8.9 \n \n \n (23.3%) \n \n \n 0.7 \n \n \n 5.6 \n \n \n 5.3 \n \n \n 11.6 \n \n \n \n \n Written to earned adjustment \n \n \n (0.2) \n \n \n - \n \n \n - \n \n \n (0.2) \n \n \n (133.3%) \n \n \n 0.6 \n \n \n - \n \n \n - \n \n \n 0.6 \n \n \n \n \n Earned Underlying  (Loss)/Profit Before Tax 11 \n \n \n (1.4) \n \n \n 0.3 \n \n \n 9.8 \n \n \n 8.7 \n \n \n (28.7%) \n \n \n 1.3 \n \n \n 5.6 \n \n \n 5.3 \n \n \n 12.2 \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n   \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Policies in force \n \n \n 628k \n \n \n 448k \n \n \n 171k \n \n \n 1,247k \n \n \n ( 10.0%) \n \n \n 649k \n \n \n 564k \n \n \n 173k \n \n \n 1,386k \n \n \n \n \n Policies sold \n \n \n 368k \n \n \n 225k \n \n \n 100k \n \n \n 693k \n \n \n (2.5%) \n \n \n 337k \n \n \n 279k \n \n \n 95k \n \n \n 711k \n \n \n \n \n Third-party panel share 12 \n \n \n 42.5% \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n 4.9ppts \n \n \n 37.6% \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n   \n \n \n   \n \n \n   \n \n \n   \n \n \n   \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Reconciliation to continuing operations: \n \n \n   \n \n \n   \n \n \n   \n \n \n   \n \n \n   \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Earned Underlying  (Loss)/Profit Before Tax 11 \n \n \n ( 1.4) \n \n \n 0.3 \n \n \n 9.8 \n \n \n 8.7 \n \n \n ( 28.7%) \n \n \n 1.3 \n \n \n 5.6 \n \n \n 5.3 \n \n \n 12.2 \n \n \n \n \n Written Underlying Profit/(Loss) Before Tax 11 from discontinued operations \n \n \n 0.2 \n \n \n - \n \n \n - \n \n \n 0.2 \n \n \n 100.0% \n \n \n (0.1) \n \n \n - \n \n \n 0.2 \n \n \n 0.1 \n \n \n \n \n Written to earned adjustment \n \n \n 0.2 \n \n \n - \n \n \n - \n \n \n 0.2 \n \n \n 133.3% \n \n \n (0.6) \n \n \n - \n \n \n - \n \n \n (0.6) \n \n \n \n \n Underlying  (Loss)/Profit Before Tax 11 from continuing operations \n \n \n (1.0) \n \n \n 0.3 \n \n \n 9.8 \n \n \n 9.1 \n \n \n (22.2%) \n \n \n 0.6 \n \n \n 5.6 \n \n \n 5.5 \n \n \n 11.7 \n \n \n \n \n   \n Insurance Broking written Underlying Profit Before Tax 11 , which excludes the impact of the written to earned adjustment deferring the revenue on policies underwritten over the term of the policy, reduced to £8.9m, from £11.6m in the prior period. Underlying Profit Before Tax 11 from continuing operations reduced to £9.1m from £11.7m. The written to earned adjustment is no longer required following the sale of the Insurance Underwriting business to Ageas 10 on 1 July 2025 as the Group ceased to underwrite any insurance policies so it no longer has to spread revenue on underwritten policies over the life of the insurance policy. \n A key metric for the Insurance Broking business is Written Gross Profit After Marketing Expenses 11 , before deducting overheads. This reduced from £53.7m in the first half of prior year, to £51.2m in the first half of the current year, mainly due to lower renewal margins and volumes on home and lower new business margins on motor. This was partially offset by higher renewal margins on motor and by an improved performance of the PMI product. Written Gross Profits After Marketing Expenses 11 fell by £6.2m in home and £0.6m in motor, partially offset by an increase in other broking of £4.3m. \n For motor and home insurance, in terms of the total Written Gross Profit After Marketing Expenses 11 , the new business proportion reduced by £6.2m and the renewal proportion by £0.6m. \n The reduction in profitability of the home business continues to be attributable to significant inflationary pressure in the net rates charged by panel underwriters, which have increased at a faster pace than the price that can be charged to consumers in a competitive marketplace. This was accentuated by the fact that a significant number of home policies are on three-year fixed-price deals, which fix the customer price for two renewals. Lower new business volumes in the prior year also led to a 13% reduction in the level of renewal volumes in the first half of the current year. \n The three-year fixed-price product remains significant, with 209k policies sold in the first half of the current year, compared with 180k policies in the prior period. This represented 35% of total motor and home policies (H1 2024: 29%), with 27% of direct new business customers taking the product (H1 2024: 28%). These policies remain highly attractive to our customer base. \n The challenging home environment led to the average gross margin per policy for motor and home combined, calculated as Written Gross Profit After Marketing Expenses 11 divided by the number of policies sold, reducing to £48.4 in the first half of the current year, compared with £57.6 in the prior period. \n In addition, customer retention increased from 76% to 84%, overall motor and home policies in force decreased 11% when compared with 31 July 2024, and direct new business sales decreased 8ppts to 35% as the Group rebalanced volumes towards price-comparison website distribution channels. \n Written profit and gross margin per policy for motor and home are stated after allowing for deferral of part of the revenues from three-year fixed-price products, which is then recognised in profit or loss when the option to renew those policies at a predetermined fixed price is exercised or lapses, recognising the inflation risk inherent in these products. At 31 July 2025, £2.8m (H1 2024: £11.6m) of income had been deferred in relation to three-year fixed-price products. The reduction is due to the Affinity Partnership with Ageas 10 , with the responsibility of the renewal of Saga-branded home and motor policies transferring to Ageas 10 , meaning that all previously deferred revenues on three-year-fixed-price products will be released prior to renewals going live as part of the Affinity Partnership. \n Motor broking \n Gross Written Premiums 11 decreased 5.2% due to a 13.1% decrease in average premiums, partially offset by an 9.2% increase in core policies sold. Gross Written Premiums 11 , from business underwritten by AICL, decreased 14.5% to £75.2m (H1 2024: £88.0m), due to a 15.3% decrease in average premiums, partially offset by a 0.9% increase in core policies sold. \n Written Gross Profit After Marketing Expenses 11 was £16.8m (H1 2024: £17.4m), contributing £45.7 per policy (H1 2024: £51.6 per policy). The increase in renewal margins and a 47.1% increase in new business policies sold was partially offset by lower new business margins and a 0.7% reduction in renewal policies sold. \n Home broking \n Gross Written Premiums 11 decreased 17.9% due to a 19.4% reduction in core policies sold, partially offset by a 1.8% increase in average premiums. \n Written Gross Profit After Marketing Expenses 11 was £11.9m (H1 2024: £18.1m), equating to £52.9 per policy (H1 2024: £64.9 per policy). The reduction in written gross profits, and margin per policy, was mainly due to the adverse impact of net rate inflation on home renewal profitability. \n Other broking \n Other broking primarily comprises PMI and travel insurance. \n Gross Written Premium 11 increased 2.9% as a result of an increase in policy sales to 82k (H1 2024: 74k) in travel insurance. For PMI, policy sales were broadly stable at 16k (H1 2024: 16k). \n While sales of PMI were broadly stable, the product performed well, resulting in profit commission from our partner, BUPA, of £2.5m and leading to Written Gross Profit After Marketing Expenses 11 increasing by £4.7m. \n Written Gross Profit After Marketing Expenses 11 relating to travel insurance products decreased by £0.2m. mainly as a result of a reduction to new business margins. \n 1 0 Wholly owned UK subsidiaries of Ageas SA/NV \n 11 Refer to the Alternative Performance Measures Glossary for definition and explanation \n 1 2 Third-party underwriter's share of the motor panel for policies \n Insurance Underwriting (classified as a discontinued operation) \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n 6m to July 2025 \n \n \n \n \n \n 6m to July 2024 \n \n \n \n \n £m \n \n \n \n \n \n Gross \n \n \n Re \n insurance \n \n \n Net \n \n \n Gross change \n \n \n Gross \n \n \n Re \n insurance \n \n \n Net \n \n \n   \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n   \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n   \n \n \n \n \n Insurance Underlying Revenue 13 \n \n \n A \n \n \n 64.2 \n \n \n ( 4.7) \n \n \n 59.5 \n \n \n ( 37.1%) \n \n \n 102.0 \n \n \n (9.0) \n \n \n 93.0 \n \n \n   \n \n \n \n \n Incurred claims (current year) \n \n \n B \n \n \n (50.5) \n \n \n 2.8 \n \n \n (47.7) \n \n \n 35.6% \n \n \n (78.4) \n \n \n (0.6) \n \n \n (79.0) \n \n \n   \n \n \n \n \n Claims handling costs in relation to incurred claims \n \n \n C \n \n \n (6.3) \n \n \n - \n \n \n (6.3) \n \n \n 24.1% \n \n \n (8.3) \n \n \n - \n \n \n (8.3) \n \n \n   \n \n \n \n \n Changes to liabilities for incurred claims (prior year) \n \n \n D \n \n \n 17.8 \n \n \n (3.7) \n \n \n 14.1 \n \n \n >500.0% \n \n \n (1.4) \n \n \n 2.2 \n \n \n 0.8 \n \n \n   \n \n \n \n \n Other incurred insurance service expenses \n \n \n E \n \n \n (4.8) \n \n \n - \n \n \n (4.8) \n \n \n 34.2% \n \n \n (7.3) \n \n \n - \n \n \n (7.3) \n \n \n   \n \n \n \n \n Insurance service result \n \n \n \n \n \n 20.4 \n \n \n (5.6) \n \n \n 14.8 \n \n \n 209.1 % \n \n \n 6.6 \n \n \n (7.4) \n \n \n (0.8) \n \n \n   \n \n \n \n \n Net finance (expense)/income from (re)insurance (excludes impact of change in discount rate on non-PPO liabilities) \n \n \n \n \n \n (4.9) \n \n \n 1.9 \n \n \n (3.0) \n \n \n 9.3% \n \n \n (5.4) \n \n \n 3.5 \n \n \n (1.9) \n \n \n   \n \n \n \n \n Investment return (excludes fair value gains on debt securities) \n \n \n \n \n \n 3.8 \n \n \n - \n \n \n 3.8 \n \n \n ( 17.4%) \n \n \n 4.6 \n \n \n - \n \n \n 4.6 \n \n \n   \n \n \n \n \n Underlying Profit/(Loss) Before Tax 13 \n \n \n \n \n \n 19.3 \n \n \n ( 3.7) \n \n \n 15.6 \n \n \n 232.8 % \n \n \n 5.8 \n \n \n (3.9) \n \n \n 1.9 \n \n \n   \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n   \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n   \n \n \n \n \n Reported loss ratio \n \n \n (B+D)/A \n \n \n 50.9% \n \n \n \n \n \n 56.5% \n \n \n 27.3ppts \n \n \n 78.2% \n \n \n \n \n \n 84.1% \n \n \n   \n \n \n \n \n Expense ratio \n \n \n (C+E)/A \n \n \n 17.3% \n \n \n \n \n \n 18.7% \n \n \n ( 2.0ppts) \n \n \n 15.3% \n \n \n \n \n \n 16.8% \n \n \n   \n \n \n \n \n Reported combined operating ratio ( COR ) \n \n \n (B+C+D+E)/A \n \n \n 68.2% \n \n \n \n \n \n 75.1% \n \n \n 25.3ppts \n \n \n 93.5% \n \n \n \n \n \n 100.9% \n \n \n   \n \n \n \n \n Current year COR \n \n \n (B+C+E)/A \n \n \n 96.0% \n \n \n \n \n \n 98.8% \n \n \n ( 3.8ppts) \n \n \n 92.2% \n \n \n \n \n \n 101.7% \n \n \n   \n \n \n \n \n Number of earned policies \n \n \n \n \n \n 163k \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n (37.3 %) \n \n \n 260k \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n   \n \n \n \n \n Policies in force - Saga motor \n \n \n \n \n \n 359k \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n (17.5 %) \n \n \n 435k \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n   \n \n \n \n \n   \n The Group's in-house underwriter, AICL, was sold to Ageas 14 on 1 July 2025 but continues to underwrite around 60% of the motor business sold by Insurance Broking, alongside a smaller proportion of business on other panels. Alongside this, AICL underwrites a portion of Saga's home panel, although all home underwriting risk is passed to third-party insurance and reinsurance providers. AICL also has excess of loss and funds-withheld quota share reinsurance arrangements in place, relating to its motor underwriting line of business, which transfer a significant proportion of motor insurance risk to third-party reinsurers. \n Gross insurance Underlying Revenue 13 was in the current year decreased 37.1% to £64.2m (H1 2024: £102.0m), reflecting a 37.3% reduction in the number of earned policies underwritten by AICL. This was partially offset by a 0.4% increase in average earned premiums. \n Gross insurance service result in line with expectations, with a 3.8ppt increase in the current year gross COR to 96.0% (H1 2024: 92.2%), reflecting pricing action taken during the second half of 2024. After allowing for reinsurance arrangements, this increased slightly to 98.8% (H1 2024: 101.7%). The improved net year-on-year result reflects the entering of a new profitable quota share aggregation period, with motor surplus generated during the first half of the current year shared with reinsurance partners. \n Positive changes to liabilities for incurred prior year claims increased from £0.8m in the first half of the prior year to £14.1m in the first half of the current year. Both years benefited from favourable large claims movements (net of excess of loss reinsurance), albeit more so in the current year. The net impact of our quota share reinsurance arrangements switched from a net benefit in the prior year to a net cost in the current year, with 80% of the favourable development in the most recent accident years ceded to quota share reinsurance partners. \n 13 Refer to the Alternative Performance Measures Glossary for definition and explanation \n 1 4 Wholly owned UK subsidiaries of Ageas SA/NV \n Other Businesses and Central Costs \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n 6m to July 2025 \n \n \n \n \n \n 6m to July 2024 \n \n \n \n \n £m \n \n \n Other Businesses \n \n \n Central Costs \n \n \n Total \n \n \n Change \n \n \n Other Businesses \n \n \n Central Costs \n \n \n Total \n \n \n \n \n Underlying Revenue 15 \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n   \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Money \n \n \n 3.0 \n \n \n - \n \n \n 3.0 \n \n \n 7.1% \n \n \n  2.8 \n \n \n - \n \n \n 2.8 \n \n \n \n \n Publishing and CustomerKNECT \n \n \n 6.3 \n \n \n - \n \n \n 6.3 \n \n \n (7.4%) \n \n \n 6.8 \n \n \n - \n \n \n 6.8 \n \n \n \n \n Other \n \n \n - \n \n \n 0.2 \n \n \n 0.2 \n \n \n 100.0% \n \n \n - \n \n \n - \n \n \n - \n \n \n \n \n Total Underlying Revenue \n \n \n 9.3 \n \n \n 0.2 \n \n \n 9.5 \n \n \n (1.0%) \n \n \n 9.6 \n \n \n - \n \n \n 9.6 \n \n \n \n \n Gross profit \n \n \n 3.3 \n \n \n 2.5 \n \n \n 5.8 \n \n \n (10.8%) \n \n \n 3.5 \n \n \n 3.0 \n \n \n 6.5 \n \n \n \n \n Operating expenses \n \n \n (3.4) \n \n \n (10.4) \n \n \n (13.8) \n \n \n 1.4% \n \n \n (2.9) \n \n \n (11.1) \n \n \n (14.0) \n \n \n \n \n Investment income \n \n \n - \n \n \n 1.3 \n \n \n 1.3 \n \n \n (43.5%) \n \n \n - \n \n \n 2.3 \n \n \n 2.3 \n \n \n \n \n Net finance costs \n \n \n - \n \n \n (20.5) \n \n \n (20.5) \n \n \n (58.9%) \n \n \n - \n \n \n (12.9) \n \n \n (12.9) \n \n \n \n \n Underlying (Loss)/Profit Before Tax 15 \n \n \n (0.1) \n \n \n (27.1) \n \n \n (27.2) \n \n \n (50.3%) \n \n \n 0.6 \n \n \n (18.7) \n \n \n (18.1) \n \n \n \n \n   \n The Group's Other Businesses include Money, Publishing and CustomerKNECT. \n Underlying Profit Before Tax 15 for Other Businesses, when combined, reduced by £0.7m, from a £0.6m Underlying Profit Before Tax 15 in the prior period to an Underlying Loss Before Tax 15 of £0.1m in the current period. \n Central operating expenses reduced to £10.4m (H1 2024: £11.1m). Gross administration costs, before Group recharges, decreased by £0.3m in the period. Net costs decreased by a further £0.4m due to higher Group recharges to the business units. \n Net finance costs in the period were £20.5m (H1 2024: £12.9m), which excludes finance costs within the Ocean Cruise business of £7.7m (H1 2024: £8.2m) and Insurance Underwriting business of £3.0m (H1 2024: £1.9m). The increase was predominantly driven by the refinancing of the Group's corporate debt at the beginning of the year at materially higher interest rates. \n 15 Refer to the Alternative Performance Measures Glossary for definition and explanation \n Cash flow and liquidity \n Available Operating Cash Flow 16 \n \n \n \n \n £m \n \n \n \n \n \n 6m to July 2025 \n \n \n Change \n \n \n 6m to July 2024 \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Group Trading EBITDA 16 \n \n \n \n \n \n 85.7 \n \n \n 27.2% \n \n \n 67.4 \n \n \n \n \n Less Trading EBITDA 16 from restricted businesses \n \n \n \n \n \n (26.1) \n \n \n (248.0%) \n \n \n (7.5) \n \n \n \n \n Group Trading EBITDA 16,17 from unrestricted businesses \n \n \n \n \n \n 59.6 \n \n \n (0.5%) \n \n \n 59.9 \n \n \n \n \n Working capital and non-cash items \n \n \n \n \n \n 28.9 \n \n \n >500.0% \n \n \n 2.1 \n \n \n \n \n Dividends and intercompany repayments from restricted businesses \n \n \n \n \n \n 18.0 \n \n \n >500.0% \n \n \n 1.5 \n \n \n \n \n Capital expenditure funded with Available Cash 16 \n \n \n \n \n \n (17.1) \n \n \n (87.9%) \n \n \n (9.1) \n \n \n \n \n Available Operating Cash Flow 16 \n \n \n \n \n \n 89.4 \n \n \n 64.3% \n \n \n 54.4 \n \n \n \n \n Restructuring costs \n \n \n \n \n \n (21.6) \n \n \n (217.6%) \n \n \n (6.8) \n \n \n \n \n Interest and financing costs \n \n \n \n \n \n (40.0) \n \n \n (96.1%) \n \n \n (20.4) \n \n \n \n \n Business disposals \n \n \n \n \n \n 57.9 \n \n \n 100.0% \n \n \n - \n \n \n \n \n Tax receipts \n \n \n \n \n \n 2.7 \n \n \n 125.0% \n \n \n 1.2 \n \n \n \n \n Other payments \n \n \n \n \n \n (9.0) \n \n \n (55.2%) \n \n \n (5.8) \n \n \n \n \n Change in cash flow from operations \n \n \n \n \n \n 79.4 \n \n \n 251.3% \n \n \n 22.6 \n \n \n \n \n Change in bond debt \n \n \n \n \n \n (250.0) \n \n \n (66.7%) \n \n \n (150.0) \n \n \n \n \n Change in loan facility debt \n \n \n \n \n \n 260.0 \n \n \n 246.7% \n \n \n 75.0 \n \n \n \n \n Change in Ocean Cruise ship debt \n \n \n \n \n \n (28.6) \n \n \n 8.0% \n \n \n (31.1) \n \n \n \n \n Cash at 1 February \n \n \n \n \n \n 79.3 \n \n \n (53.3%) \n \n \n 169.8 \n \n \n \n \n Available Cash 16 at 31 July \n \n \n \n \n \n 140.1 \n \n \n 62.3% \n \n \n 86.3 \n \n \n \n \n   \n \n \n \n \n £m \n \n \n \n \n \n 6m to July 2025 \n \n \n Change \n \n \n 6m to July 2024 \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Available Operating Cash Flow 16 by business unit \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Ocean Cruise \n \n \n \n \n \n 67.2 \n \n \n 24.2% \n \n \n 54.1 \n \n \n \n \n River Cruise \n \n \n \n \n \n 3.0 \n \n \n 114.3% \n \n \n 1.4 \n \n \n \n \n Holidays \n \n \n \n \n \n 5.0 \n \n \n >500.0% \n \n \n 0.1 \n \n \n \n \n Insurance Broking \n \n \n \n \n \n 24.7 \n \n \n 77.7% \n \n \n 13.9 \n \n \n \n \n Insurance Underwriting \n \n \n \n \n \n 10.0 \n \n \n 100.0% \n \n \n - \n \n \n \n \n Other Businesses and Central Costs \n \n \n \n \n \n (20.5) \n \n \n (35.8%) \n \n \n (15.1) \n \n \n \n \n Available Operating Cash Flow 16 \n \n \n \n \n \n 89.4 \n \n \n 64.3% \n \n \n 54.4 \n \n \n \n \n   \n Available Operating Cash Flow 16 is made up of the cash flows from unrestricted businesses and the dividends paid by, and intercompany repayments from, restricted companies, less any cash injections to those businesses. Unrestricted businesses include the Group's Ocean Cruise business, Insurance Broking (excluding specific ring-fenced funds to satisfy Financial Conduct Authority regulatory requirements) and Other Businesses and Central Costs. Restricted businesses include River Cruise, Holidays and Insurance Underwriting. \n As a result of an increase in cash generation from Ocean Cruise, Insurance Broking and dividends paid by Insurance Underwriting, Available Operating Cash Flow 16 increased from £54.4m in the prior period to £89.4m the current period. \n The Ocean Cruise business reported an Available Operating Cash Flow 16 of £67.2m (H1 2024: £54.1m), with an increase in advance customer receipts of £17.4m (H1 2024: £7.2m), net trading income of £56.4m (H1 2024: £47.7m) and repayment of cash collateralised Association of British Travel Agents bonding of £0.5m (H1 2024: £nil), partially offset by capital expenditure of £7.1m (H1 2024: £0.8m), associated with a scheduled dry dock for Spirit of Discovery. Net of interest costs of £6.5m (H1 2024: £7.0m) and exceptional costs of £0.4m (H1 2024: £nil), the Ocean Cruise business reported a net cash inflow, before capital repayments on the ship debt, of £60.3m for the first half of 2025/26, compared with £47.1m in the first half of the prior year. \n The River Cruise business provided an intercompany loan to the Group of £3.0m in the period (H1 2024: £1.4m intercompany loan repayment), which was agreed with the Civil Aviation Authority ( CAA ). For any further excess cash to be paid back to the Group, dividends will only be paid following an approval process with the CAA. The business continues to be under an escrow trust arrangement as part of its CAA licence. At 31 July 2025, the business held cash of £26.0m, of which £18.1m was held in escrow. The business must hold a minimum of £1.7m of cash outside of escrow within the business, as agreed with the CAA. \n The Holidays business repaid the Group £5.0m during the period (H1 2024: £0.1m). The increase is due to the improved trading performance in the first half of this year compared to the first half of the prior year, resulting in an increase in repayment of intercompany loans to the Group during the first half of the current year. \n The Insurance Broking business reported an Available Operating Cash Flow 16 of £24.7m (H1 2024: £13.9m). The increase of £10.8m is the result of an increase in working capital of £11.5m which was mainly driven by the receipt of £7.5m from AICL relating to a stop loss agreement between AICL and Saga Services Limited. In addition, there was a reduction in capital expenditure in the first half of the current year of £3.8m. This was partially offset by a reduction in EBITDA in the first half of the current year of £3.6m. \n The Insurance Underwriting business paid dividends to the Group of £10.0m (H1 2024: £nil), prior to the sale to Ageas 18 , relating to excess solvency capital. \n Other cash flow movements \n Interest and financing costs increased in the current period, predominantly driven by the refinancing of the Group's corporate debt at the beginning of the year at materially higher interest rates. \n The Group continued to make the agreed payments to the defined benefit pension fund as part of the deficit recovery plan of £2.9m (H1 2024: £5.8m), which are now paid quarterly compared to the previous annual contributions. In addition, the Group funded ring-fenced, restricted designated bank accounts, using Available Cash 16 totalling £6.1m, over which charges have been granted in favour of the pension trustees. Both of which are included within other payments. \n In the current period, the Group drew its £335.0m term loan (see change to facilities within the Financing section for further details) and used the funds to repay in full and cancel its £250.0m corporate bond and repay the £75.0m drawn proportion and cancel the £85.0m loan facility provided by Roger De Haan. The Group continued to make capital repayments against its Ocean Cruise ship debt facilities, with payments totalling £12.8m (H1 2024: £15.3m) on Spirit of Discovery's debt facility and payments totalling £15.8m (H1 2024: £15.8m) on Spirit of Adventure's debt facility. \n 16 Refer to the Alternative Performance Measures Glossary for definition and explanation \n 17 Trading EBITDA includes the line-item impact of IFRS 16 with the corresponding impact to net finance costs included in net cash flows used in financing activities \n 18 Wholly owned UK subsidiaries of Ageas SA/NV \n Statement of financial position \n Goodwill \n At 31 July 2025, the carrying value of the Group's goodwill associated with the Insurance Broking business was £206.4m (31 January 2025: £206.4m). Trading performance in the current year has been in line with expectations, therefore the Directors concluded that there were no indicators of impairment at 31 July 2025. \n Carrying value of Ocean Cruise ships \n At 31 July 2025, the carrying value of the Group's Ocean Cruise ships was £566. 5m (31 January 2025: £570.6m). Trading performance in the current year has been very positive, and, with strong bookings for 2026/27, the Directors concluded that there were no indicators of impairment at 31 July 2025. \n Investment portfolio \n Prior to its sale to Ageas 19 on 1 July 2025, the majority of the Group's financial assets were held by its Insurance Underwriting entity and represented premium income received and invested to settle claims and meet regulatory capital requirements. \n As a result of the sale of the Group's Insurance Underwriting business, the amount held in invested funds decreased by £242.1m to £11.0m (31 January 2025: £253.1m). At 31 July 2025, 100% of the financial assets held by the Group were invested with counterparties with a risk rating of BBB or above, consistent with the prior year end, reflecting the relatively stable credit risk rating of the Group's investment holdings. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n C redit risk rating \n \n \n \n \n   \n \n \n AAA \n \n \n AA \n \n \n A \n \n \n BBB \n \n \n Unrated \n \n \n T otal \n \n \n \n \n At 31 July 2025 \n \n \n £m \n \n \n £m \n \n \n £m \n \n \n £m \n \n \n £m \n \n \n £m \n \n \n \n \n   \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Investment portfolio \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Deposits with financial institutions \n \n \n - \n \n \n 3.8 \n \n \n 7.2 \n \n \n - \n \n \n - \n \n \n 11.0 \n \n \n \n \n Total invested funds \n \n \n - \n \n \n 3.8 \n \n \n 7.2 \n \n \n - \n \n \n - \n \n \n 11.0 \n \n \n \n \n Derivative assets \n \n \n - \n \n \n - \n \n \n 1.9 \n \n \n - \n \n \n - \n \n \n 1.9 \n \n \n \n \n Total financial assets \n \n \n - \n \n \n 3.8 \n \n \n 9.1 \n \n \n - \n \n \n - \n \n \n 12.9 \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Credit risk rating \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n A AA \n \n \n A A \n \n \n A \n \n \n B BB \n \n \n U nrated \n \n \n T otal \n \n \n \n \n At 31 January 2025 \n \n \n £m \n \n \n £m \n \n \n £m \n \n \n £m \n \n \n £m \n \n \n £m \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Investment portfolio \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Deposits with financial institutions \n \n \n - \n \n \n 1.0 \n \n \n 10.5 \n \n \n - \n \n \n - \n \n \n 11.5 \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Debt securities \n \n \n 22.8 \n \n \n 53.2 \n \n \n 52.4 \n \n \n 50.3 \n \n \n - \n \n \n 178.7 \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Money market funds \n \n \n 62.9 \n \n \n - \n \n \n - \n \n \n - \n \n \n - \n \n \n 62.9 \n \n \n \n \n Total invested funds \n \n \n 85.7 \n \n \n 54.2 \n \n \n 62.9 \n \n \n 50.3 \n \n \n - \n \n \n 253.1 \n \n \n \n \n Derivative assets \n \n \n - \n \n \n 0.2 \n \n \n 0.9 \n \n \n - \n \n \n - \n \n \n 1.1 \n \n \n \n \n Total financial assets \n \n \n 85.7 \n \n \n 54.4 \n \n \n 63.8 \n \n \n 50.3 \n \n \n - \n \n \n 254.2 \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n   \n Insurance reserves \n Analysis of insurance contract liabilities at 31 July 2025 and 31 January 2025 is as follows: \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n At 31 July 2025 \n \n \n At 31 January 2025 \n \n \n \n \n £m \n \n \n Gross \n \n \n Reinsurance assets \n \n \n Net \n \n \n Gross \n \n \n Reinsurance assets \n \n \n Net \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Incurred claims - estimate of the present value of future cash flows \n \n \n - \n \n \n - \n \n \n - \n \n \n 235.9 \n \n \n (88.9) \n \n \n 147.0 \n \n \n \n \n Incurred claims - risk adjustment \n \n \n - \n \n \n - \n \n \n - \n \n \n 33.7 \n \n \n (28.2) \n \n \n 5.5 \n \n \n \n \n Remaining coverage - excluding loss component \n \n \n - \n \n \n - \n \n \n - \n \n \n 46.3 \n \n \n 9.3 \n \n \n 55.6 \n \n \n \n \n Remaining coverage - loss component \n \n \n - \n \n \n - \n \n \n - \n \n \n 1.8 \n \n \n - \n \n \n 1.8 \n \n \n \n \n Total \n \n \n - \n \n \n - \n \n \n - \n \n \n 317.7 \n \n \n (107.8) \n \n \n 209.9 \n \n \n \n \n \nThe Group's total insurance contract liabilities, net of reinsurance assets, decreased by £209.9m in the period to 31 July 2025 from the previous year end, entirely due to the sale of the Group's Insurance Underwriting business to Ageas 19 on 1 July 2025. At 31 January 2025, these balances were included within Liabilities directly associated with assets held for sale. \n Financing \n At 31 July 2025, the Group's Net Debt 20 was £515.1m, £77.7m lower than at the start of the financial year. \n Net Debt 20 is analysed as follows: \n \n \n \n \n £m \n \n \n Maturity date 21 \n \n \n 31 July \n 2025 \n \n \n \n \n \n 31 January 2025 2 2 \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n 5.5% Corporate bond \n \n \n July 2026 \n \n \n - \n \n \n \n \n \n 250.0 \n \n \n \n \n Loan facility provided by Roger De Haan \n \n \n April 2026 \n \n \n - \n \n \n \n \n \n 75.0 \n \n \n \n \n Term Loan \n \n \n January 2031 \n \n \n 335.0 \n \n \n \n \n \n - \n \n \n \n \n DDTL \n \n \n January 2031 \n \n \n - \n \n \n \n \n \n - \n \n \n \n \n RCF \n \n \n January 2028 \n \n \n - \n \n \n \n \n \n - \n \n \n \n \n Spirit of Discovery Ocean Cruise ship loan \n \n \n June 2031 \n \n \n 130.2 \n \n \n \n \n \n 143.0 \n \n \n \n \n Spirit of Adventure Ocean Cruise ship loan \n \n \n September 2032 \n \n \n 186.0 \n \n \n \n \n \n 201.8 \n \n \n \n \n Pre-IFRS 16 lease liabilities \n \n \n \n \n \n 4.0 \n \n \n \n \n \n 2.3 \n \n \n \n \n Less Available Cash 20,23 \n \n \n \n \n \n (140.1) \n \n \n \n \n \n (79.3) \n \n \n \n \n Net Debt 20 \n \n \n   \n \n \n 515.1 \n \n \n   \n \n \n 592.8 \n \n \n \n \n   \n Financial covenant compliance \n The Group's Leverage Ratio 20 , at 31 July 2025, was 4.3x (31 January 2025: 4.4x 22 ), within the 8.0x covenant under the existing corporate facilities at 31 July 2025. \n \n \n \n \n £m \n \n \n \n \n \n 31 July \n 2025 \n \n \n   \n \n \n 31 January 2025 22 \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Net Debt 20 \n \n \n \n \n \n 515.1 \n \n \n   \n \n \n 592.8 \n \n \n \n \n Consolidated Pro Forma EBITDA 20 \n \n \n \n \n \n 118.8 \n \n \n   \n \n \n 134.6 \n \n \n \n \n Leverage Ratio 20 \n \n \n \n \n \n 4.3x \n \n \n   \n \n \n 4.4x \n \n \n \n \n   \n The Group also has financial covenants associated with its Ocean Cruise ship debt facilities, being a debt service cover ratio and an interest cover ratio. The debt service cover ratio, at 31 July 2025, was 1.6x (31 January 2025: 1.4x), in excess of the 1.2x covenant (31 January 2025: 1.0x) under the Ocean Cruise ship debt facilities at the same date. The interest cover ratio, at 31 July 2025, was 9.9x (31 January 2025: 7.9x), in excess of the 2.0x covenant under the ship debt facilities at the same date. \n \n \n \n \n £m \n \n \n \n \n \n 31 July \n 2025 \n \n \n   \n \n \n 31 January 2025 \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n ST&H Group consolidated pro forma Trading EBITDA 20 \n \n \n \n \n \n 114.8 \n \n \n   \n \n \n 103.9 \n \n \n \n \n ST&H Group consolidated debt service \n \n \n \n \n \n 71.3 \n \n \n   \n \n \n 75.3 \n \n \n \n \n Debt service cover ratio \n \n \n \n \n \n 1.6x \n \n \n   \n \n \n 1.4x \n \n \n \n \n   \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n   \n   \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n £m \n \n \n \n \n \n 31 July \n 2025 \n \n \n   \n \n \n 31 January 2025 \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n ST&H Group consolidated pro forma Trading EBITDA 20 \n \n \n \n \n \n 114.8 \n \n \n   \n \n \n 103.9 \n \n \n \n \n ST&H Group consolidated total net cash interest expenses \n \n \n \n \n \n 11.6 \n \n \n   \n \n \n 13.1 \n \n \n \n \n Interest cover ratio \n \n \n \n \n \n 9.9x \n \n \n   \n \n \n 7.9x \n \n \n \n \n   \n Change to facilities \n Following the Groups successful refinancing, new credit facilities were secured on 30 January 2025, with funds drawn on 27 February 2025. As a result, the £250.0m bond was repaid in full and cancelled, alongside the £75.0m drawings under the £85.0m loan facility provided by Roger De Haan, and the existing £50.0m RCF, which was also cancelled. \n On 15 May 2025, as a continuation of the refinancing, the Group secured syndication of a £33.4m RCF facility, shared equally between Barclays and NatWest, while the remaining £16.6m was reallocated to HPS Funds 24 delayed-draw term loan ( DDTL ) facility, increasing its total commitment from £100.0m to £116.6m. \n The new RCF provides greater flexibility in the number of drawdowns the Group can request and offers a more favourable interest rate. The facility is priced at SONIA plus an initial margin of 3.5%, with the margin reducing as the Group deleverages. The RCF also benefits from a significantly improved utilisation process, with drawdown requests now requiring one business day's notice, reduced from thirteen. The facility held with HPS Funds 24 remains on its existing terms of the DDTL. \n To manage interest rate exposure, the Group hedged the full £335.0m term loan using interest rate derivatives. In June 2025, £134.0m was hedged with each of NatWest and Barclays, with the remaining £67.0m hedge with HSBC in August 2025. \n A summary of the Group's corporate debt is detailed below: \n ·      a £335.0m term loan; \n \n ·      a £116.6m DDTL, comprising: \n o  £100.0m initial DDTL, available to draw down for three years, from the date of the term loan facility being drawn, and can be drawn for repayment of amortisation of the Ocean Cruise ship debt facilities, mergers and acquisitions and capital investments; and \n o  £16.6m additional DDTL, available to draw down for three years, from the date of the term loan facility being drawn, and can be used for general corporate purposes; and \n ·      £33.4m RCF, which is available for three years, from the date of the term loan facility being drawn, with the option to extend 2 years, and can be used for general corporate purposes. \n   \n 19 Wholly owned UK subsidiaries of Ageas SA/NV \n 20 Refer to the Alternative Performance Measures Glossary for definition and explanation \n 21 Maturity date represents the date the principal must be repaid, other than the Ocean Cruise ship loans, which are repaid in instalments \n 2 2 Following the Group's refinancing and revised covenant definition, Net Debt and Leverage Ratio have been updated at 31 January 2025 \n 2 3 Refer to Note 12 of the financial statements for information as to how this reconciled to a statutory measure of cash \n 24 Certain funds, entities (or affiliates or subsidiaries of such funds or entities) and/or accounts managed, advised or controlled by HPS Investment Partners, LLC or its subsidiaries \n Pensions \n The Group's defined benefit pension scheme liability, as measured on an International Accounting Standard 19R basis, decreased by £5.3m to a £34.5m liability at 31 July 2025 (31 January 2025: £39.8m). \n \n \n \n \n   \n £m \n \n \n 31 July 2025 \n \n \n   \n \n \n 3 1 January 2025 \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Fair value of scheme assets \n \n \n 192.3 \n \n \n \n \n \n 200.1 \n \n \n \n \n Present value of defined benefit obligation \n \n \n (226.8) \n \n \n \n \n \n (239.9) \n \n \n \n \n Defined benefit pension scheme liability \n \n \n (34.5) \n \n \n   \n \n \n (39.8) \n \n \n \n \n The movements observed in the scheme's assets and obligations were impacted by macroeconomic factors during the period where, at a global level, there have been shifts in long-term market yields. The present value of defined benefit obligations decreased by £13.1m to £226.8m, primarily as a result of increases in bond yields over the period. The fair value of scheme assets decreased by £7.8m, to £192.3m, reflecting the reduction in value of matching assets held by the scheme, partially offset by a £2.9m recovery contribution paid into the Scheme during the period. Growth asset performance has also served to reduce the shortfall. \n Net assets \n Since 31 January 2025, total assets decreased by £313.0m and total liabilities decreased by £314.1m, resulting in an overall increase in net assets of £1.1m. \n The reduction in total assets is primarily due to: \n ·      a decrease in assets held for sale of £425.9m following the sale of the Insurance Underwriting business in the first half of the current year; \n ·      an increase in trade and other receivables of £10.4m; \n ·      an increase in trust accounts of £9.3m due to seasonality in River Cruise; and \n ·      an increase in cash and short-term deposits of £82.8m, mainly as a result of the strong trading performance of the Group in the first half of the current year, along with the seasonality of our River Cruise and Holidays businesses. \n The decrease in total liabilities largely reflects: \n ·      a decrease in liabilities held for sale of £346.9m following the sale of the Insurance Underwriting business in the first half of the current year; \n ·      a decrease of £14.3m in financial liabilities, which is mainly due to a reduction of £29.6m in bonds, bank loans and other loans, as a result of the repayment of £28.6m of capital repayments on Spirit of Discovery and Spirit of Adventure facilities. This has been partially offset b...

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