Campervan rentals power improved Tourism Holdings results
Monday, 23 February 2026
Economic uncertainty still weighs on the campervan sales market, but Tourism Holdings has turned in an increased half year after tax profit, and its chairperson is confident the company is “on track”.
It’s been a tough couple of years for the NZX-listed campervan giant, but it reported net after tax profit of $29.6 million for the six months to December 31, a 17% increase on the first half of the previous year.
Underlying profit after tax was also up, by 11% to $29.5m, and the company reported a 4% increase in total revenue to $477.3m.
But while revenue from the sale of services, largely on the rental side of the business, was up 11% to $280.1m, its sale of goods revenue was down 4% to $197.2.
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The company’s reported net debt was $493m, down $30m, and it was expected to drop below $400m by the end of the year.
Tourism Holdings chairperson Cathy Quinn said while the global rentals business continued to perform well, the campervan sales markets were still challenged.
That reflected softer consumer sentiment over the period and ongoing macroeconomic uncertainty, she said.
“While early signs of improvement are emerging in some of our markets, these have not yet translated to sustained growth.”
Quinn said the 2026 financial year was a transition year for the company as it aimed to reach its goal of $100m in net profit after tax in three to four years.
“The results for this half, alongside our forward bookings and momentum, give us confidence that we are on track.”
Tourism Holdings chief executive Grant Webster said the rentals business remained the engine of the company’s business model and continued to power its global revenue performance which remained strong over the first half.
Global forward rental revenue for future travel periods was currently more than 15% higher than at the same point last year, despite the decline seen in the US market, he said.
“We are confident in the outlook for global tourism. Structural drivers, including growing global airline capacity and growing demand for our category of free independent travel, continue to support a positive outlook for RV rentals.
“The downside is that we are in an environment where the USA is ‘off the menu’ for many international travellers this year,” he said.
“While the 2025 high season still had the benefit of solid booking intakes before the Liberation Day tariffs were announced, the entire 2026 booking window has been impacted.”
Difficult market conditions had led the company to focus on the execution of the strategic initiatives it announced in August, and good progress on them had been made, he said.
That progress included Tourism Holdings’ conditional agreement to sell its UK division to Indie Campers for about $58.3m, and the exiting of underperforming dealerships, Sydney RV and Kratzmann RV, in Australia.
It had also closed its Brisbane factory and consolidated activity to New Zealand, and reduced its funds employed and cost-out actions in North America,
Webster said that despite ongoing weakness in campervan sales markets, broader macroeconomic challenges, and uncertainty regarding the timing of a recovery, the company was focused on its forecast for the 2026 financial year.
The company expected underlying profit after tax for the 2026 year to be in the range of $43m to $47m, reflecting expected profit growth of about 50% to 65%.
That guidance included the impact of a reduction of about $1m in underlying profit after tax attributable to the timing of the UK division sale.
It would mark a turnaround from the 2025 financial year when the company reported a net loss of over $25 million.
But challenging vehicle sales conditions persisted, and the second half of the financial year was expected to largely reflect the trends seen in the first half, with any meaningful recovery unlikely within the current financial year, the company said.
The company declared an interim dividend of 3.0 cents per share, which will be paid on April 10. It was a 20% increase to the interim dividend paid in the 2025 financial year.
Tourism Holdings owns the Maui, Britz, Mighty, Kea Australia and Motek Vehicle Sales brands. It also operates several tourism businesses in New Zealand, including Waitomo Glowworm Caves and Kiwi Experience.
In 2022, it acquired its largest rival Australia’s Apollo Tourism & Leisure, and became the world's largest commercial RV rental operator.