Web Travel Group faces a legal challenge after Slater and Gordon launches a shareholder class action claiming the company misled investors on profit margin expectations. The dispute centres on changes to guidance for FY25 earnings and the total transaction value (TTV) margin, which underpin how investors value the online travel group. Investor anger spikes once the later downgrade clashes with earlier, more upbeat projections.
Law firm Slater and Gordon alleges Web Travel engaged in misleading or deceptive conduct and failed to meet continuous disclosure obligations under market rules. The claim focuses on statements made at Web Travel’s 21 March 2024 strategy day, when the company told investors its TTV margin would “settle in the short term at mid-7%”. Web Travel then repeated that mid-7% TTV margin guidance in its FY24 results announcement on 22 May 2024, reinforcing the market’s expectations around profitability. Those public statements form the backbone of the case.
Slater and Gordon’s filing argues the guidance shifted on 14 October 2024, when Web Travel updated the market and said its TTV margin was expected to “stabilise at 6.5%”. That numerical change represents a meaningful downgrade for investors who value online travel businesses on slim percentage margins across large TTV bases. According to the law firm, the October announcement triggered significant shareholder losses as the market rapidly repriced Web Travel’s earnings trajectory. The claim contends that earlier guidance was unsustainable, leaving investors exposed when the margin outlook was cut.
