The Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT) share price is on track to end the month on a positive note.
At the time of writing, the travel agent's shares are up 0.5% to $18.70.
If the Flight Centre share price finishes here, it will mean a monthly gain of almost 18%.
This compares very favourably to the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO), which is currently down 2.9% month to date.
Why is the Flight Centre share price outperforming?
On the very first day of the month, the Flight Centre share price surged higher after it released its unaudited numbers to support its capital raising.
Flight Centre revealed the more than tripling of its revenue to $1 billion thanks to a significant rebound in the travel market and a particularly strong performance from its corporate business.
And while the company's revenue margins remain under a spot of pressure, this couldn't stop Flight Centre from recording underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) of $95 million for the half. This was up from a $184 million loss a year earlier and 19% ahead of the midpoint of its original half-year guidance.
New acquisition
Also getting investors excited was news that the company has bolstered its offering with the acquisition of the Scott Dunn business for $211 million.
The company notes that Scott Dunn is a high-margin leisure business in the luxury travel segment with large average booking values and strong repeat bookings. It pulled in $199 million of total transaction value (TTV) and $51 million of revenue last year.
Commenting on the acquisition, Flight Centre's managing director, Graham Turner, said:
Scott Dunn provides us with the opportunity to grow our leisure presence in the large UK and US luxury markets in an attractive and growing segment, while also fast-tracking our objective of developing a global luxury collection of travel brands. High-net-worth, time poor customers highly value the services of Scott Dunn as shown by their customers' loyalty.
All in all, many in the market appear to believe the worst is now behind the company and the Flight Centre share price. Though, it is worth noting that Flight Centre shares remain one of the most shorted shares on the Australian share market.
