Travelex overcomes the gloom

foreign currency giant Travelex overcame last year’s volcanic ash cloud and difficult travel market to post the second best annual earnings performance in its history.

The group reported a 9 per cent rise in underlying earnings to £130.6m for 2010 after investing another £30m in new products and services.

Travelex, which saw sales rise 16 per cent to £739.7m, expanded by another 139 stores and more than 100 cash machines last year – taking its total global estate to 950 stores across 24 countries.

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It launched its pre-paid card – an alternative to travellers cheques – in five new markets and said a total of £1bn was loaded on to the cards.

Peter Jackson, chief executive, said the group’s 2010 performance “came about in spite of the challenging global market conditions, which last year included the impact of the ash cloud, the exceptional bad weather across Europe and the ongoing tough economic backdrop, all of which impacted travel patterns around the world”.

Travelex plans to continue expanding in 2011 across fast-growing areas such as Asia and South America, despite ongoing challenges in market conditions.

Lloyd Dorfman founded the business in 1976.

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