Web Travel Group (ASX:WEB) delivers $1bn incremental TTV in its FY26 results!

EBITDA margin pushed to 43.8% while the Convertible Notes redemption cleared the deck for M&A optionality

Web Travel Group (ASX:WEB) has delivered the kind of full-year result that quietly answers the question the market has been asking since the Spanish tax audit drama earlier this year. Can WebBeds keep growing at 20% without bleeding margin?

The answer, on the numbers released today for the 12 months to 31 March 2026, is yes. Total Transaction Value reached $5.8 billion, up 20%. WebBeds EBITDA jumped 24% to $172.7 million.

The detail that matters more than any single line is the margin. WebBeds delivered an additional $1 billion of TTV during the year at a higher margin than the prior year, with EBITDA margin lifting to 43.8% from 42.3%. For a B2B hotel distribution business, that combination of volume and margin expansion is what the bull case has always rested on.

Cash generation kept pace. Operating cash inflows of $132.4 million translated into 107% cash conversion, a sharp step up from 73% in FY25.

The Americas number is the one to circle

Bookings in the Americas grew 41% on the prior year. Europe added 19%. Those two regions did the heavy lifting while APAC and the Middle East and Africa absorbed the impact of the ongoing Middle East conflict.

We think the Americas figure is the most important data point in the entire release. WebBeds has historically been a Europe-weighted business, and the fact that the US-led region is now growing at twice the European rate suggests the company is genuinely taking share from larger incumbents like Hotelbeds rather than just riding a travel recovery.

FY27 guidance is cautious, and probably deliberately so

The first eight weeks of FY27 show Bookings up 6% and TTV up 4% in constant currency. In Australian dollar terms TTV is down 6%. That is a sharp deceleration from the 20% growth just reported.

Management points to the Middle East conflict as the drag, and guides to FY27 TTV margin of at least 6.5%, slightly below the 6.8% just delivered. The skeptical read is that 6.5% is a floor management is confident it can clear, not a ceiling. After the Spanish tax audit episode, John Guscic appears to have learnt the value of under-promising.

Capital structure now points squarely at M&A

Pro forma liquidity sits at around $500 million, comprising $398.1 million in cash and $100.9 million in undrawn RCF. Chair Roger Sharp explicitly flagged optionality for inorganic growth in his capital management commentary.

That is a notable shift in tone. Through most of FY26 the messaging was about operational execution. With the Convertible Notes off the books and cash conversion running above 100%, the conversation is now about deployment.

The Investors Takeaway for Web Travel Group

The bull case for Web Travel rested on three things. WebBeds taking share, margins holding while it grew, and management delivering against guidance. FY26 ticks all three, and Underlying Group EBITDA of $148.4 million landed squarely inside the range management guided to back when the Spanish tax audit had the market doubting them.

The harder question is whether the FY27 start, with TTV up just 4% in constant currency, represents a temporary geopolitical drag or a structural slowing. Our view is that the Americas trajectory and the margin discipline give the business enough runway to absorb a soft MEA quarter or two. Investors can revisit our prior take on the Spanish audit episode at stocksdownunder to see how the operational thesis has held up.

The next genuine test is whether management deploys the $500 million liquidity pile into an acquisition that accelerates the Americas share gains. If it does, the FY26 result will look like the inflection point.