Fly Buys firm posts 6.6% gain in sales

Stephen England-Hall, chief of Loyalty NZ. Picture / Greg Bowker

Loyalty New Zealand, which operates the Fly Buys loyalty programme used by companies including Air New Zealand, Z Energy and Contact Energy, has posted a 6.6 per cent gain in full-year sales, while profit was reduced by investment to drive growth.

Profit was $830,000 in the year ended March 31, from a record $2.7 million a year earlier, according to the Wellington-based company's annual report. Revenue rose to $91 million from $85.4 million.

Loyalty NZ is a quarter-owned by each of Z Energy, BNZ, insurer IAG New Zealand and Foodstuffs Ventures (NZ), part of the co-operative that operates the New World and Pak'n Save supermarkets.

In the latest year, members of the Fly Buys scheme claimed rewards worth $90 million, up from $82 million a year earlier.

Operating expenses rose 10 per cent to $89.8 million, including a 33 per cent gain in employee costs to $11.7 million.

"We've invested heavily in the last year in the elements that will position Loyalty for future growth - people, branding and marketing, products, channels and technology," said chief executive Stephen England-Hall. "Issuance, redemption and revenue figures continue to climb year on year, reflecting the growing demand for Fly Buys points and the attraction of our retail offering."

The latest year included a record $11.3 million of rewards, based on the retail value of the products, redeemed in December, with more than 52 million points used for products and services.

The number of products customers can buy with Fly Buys points has about doubled in the past two years, it said.The 2015 accounts also show an 18 per cent gain to $13.8 million for "participant-based revenue", which includes non-rewards revenue from the firms that use the Fly Buys programme, fees for marketing campaigns and sales from its Lab360 unit.

Lab360 is Loyalty's full-service data and analytics business, which uses consumer spending data to "help businesses learn more about their customers and their markets", according to the company's website.