Novaturas Group, the leader in the Baltic tourism market, was recognised at the Nasdaq Baltic Awards 2023 as the company that did the best job overcoming recent challenges and managing market change. Novaturas won the title of “The Challenge of the Year” – an award specially established by Nasdaq Vilnius for the most significant contribution to the development of the Lithuanian and Baltic capital markets. The income achieved in 2022 reflects the company’s balanced and targeted growth.
“There was no shortage of challenges last year – when the war started in Ukraine, tourism demand dropped significantly and the price of jet fuel increased drastically, which temporarily led to a considerable decrease in profitability. However, after a tough first half, we returned to the path of profitability by summer. In Q3 2022, EBITDA increased to EUR 2.0 million and we recorded EUR 1.1 million in profit, ending the year with a record EUR 196 million in income. The fact that we can call this difficult period a record year is a huge victory for the entire team,” says Vitalij Rakovski, CEO of Novaturas.
V. Rakovski adds that the solid results and their range of trips focused on improving the customer experience are allowing the entire group of companies to move forward confidently, maintaining a leading position in the region.
This is not Novaturas Group’s first win at the Nasdaq Vilnius awards. Every year, these awards celebrate the outstanding achievements of Nasdaq Baltic listed companies in the areas of transparency, sound corporate governance and investor relations.
In 2019, the largest tour operator won the title of “Stock Exchange Event of the Year” at these awards for its debut on the official Baltic trade list. Novaturas was also ranked among the companies with the best investor relations in Lithuania and the Baltic market in both 2019 and 2021.
This year, the Nasdaq Vilnius stock exchange established three additional awards in order to honour participants for their contribution to the development and important events in the Lithuanian and Baltic capital markets. One of them – “The Challenge of the Year” – was awarded to Novaturas.
The company is also seeing significant growth in its number of customers. In 2022, the Novaturas Group served 267,000 passengers, closing the gap significantly from 2018 and 2019, when the number of customers peaked. The company aims to continue a balanced travel programme that allows it to ensure a travel offer that organically matches the demand and helps respond in a timely manner to changes in the competitive environment.
Novaturas shares have been dual-listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange and Nasdaq Vilnius since 2018. Its share price has already increased 77 per cent since its lowest point during the pandemic.
About the company
Novaturas Group is the largest tour operator in the Baltic States, offering summer and winter package holidays by plane to more than 30 destinations worldwide and more than 100 tours.