Shares of Manchester-based online holiday retailer On the Beach Group plc (OTB) soared as much as 19% after it said its revenue rose 18.7% to £170.2 million in the year to September 30, 2023, and its forward book is at record levels.

On the Beach said adjusted profit before tax rose to £23.6 million from £14.2 million “reflecting strong revenue growth in the OTB segment along with a reduction in marketing spend as a % of revenue.”

Statutory profit before tax rose to £12.9 million from £2.2 million.

On the Beach CEO Shaun Morton said: “Last year we differentiated ourselves from other mainstream holiday companies as the first to offer free lounge and fast track on bookings and this continues to grow customer satisfaction.

“The investment we have put into our proprietary technology has enhanced our flight, hotel and front-end platform capability and thanks to this upgraded front-end, we have improved the user experience leveraging technology, automation and AI via our new website and customer app.

“This has all helped drive growth in both the core business and expansion segments.

“This year we have seen the majority of consumers protect – not sacrifice – their holiday, a trend that our research shows will continue. We are already seeing this with strong momentum into the new financial year with TTV up 26% for the first nine weeks of FY24 and Winter FY23 bookings up 34%.

“We approach our key booking period in Q2 with significant momentum and this gives us confidence that Summer ’24 will be significantly ahead of Summer ’23.”