The pitchforks are out for this Aussie travel company

December 2, 2025 — 4.02pm

The trajectory of Corporate Travel Management’s share price over ten years is bumpier than flying through a hurricane in a Cessna. The company that’s had plenty of fans and a legion of detractors is now feeling the negative glare of both the Australian and UK governments.

It’s a long way back from this level of scrutiny and controversy.

The company, which is one of Queensland’s largest, is now facing its existential crisis – a tail spin from which it will be difficult to pull out due to accusations of overcharging. These governments are big and influential customers with the means and power to get answers.

This week Corporate Travel Management was belatedly hit with a “please explain” note from the Australian government, whose travel management contract it looks after and which is up for renewal in 2027.

Corporate Travel Management chief executive Jamie Pherous, and a barge in England, part of a contract with Corporate Travel Management.Credit: Getty, Attila Csaszar

A letter from Australia’s federal finance department has reportedly reminded the company of its obligations to formally notify it of significant events.

The letter also requested additional information on Corporate Travel Management’s staggering revelation last week that it overcharged its UK customers by $162 million which it now needs to refund.

Britain’s Cabinet Office is investigating Corporate Travel Management’s overcharging scandal and has reportedly been joined by London’s mayor, who wants an urgent review of the council’s contract.

This crescendo of concern hasn’t come from out of the blue. There have been strong whiffs of doubt about accounting treatments employed by this company going back almost 10 years.

In 2018, it was injured by what finance lingo calls a “short attack” when a hedge fund issued a scathing report on the company accusing it of aggressive accounting and “phantom” offices.

Others have long questioned how this company’s profit margins have a plumpness, out of line with others in the industry.

Loading

Each time it has fought its way back and today insists that its solvency is not at risk because its business is humming along with cash on hand and access to undrawn debt.

But the smell of scandal can greatly injure any company whose business runs on reputation and goodwill. It will be “customer hunting” season for its competitors like Flight Centre.

As tests go, this will be a big one.

The genesis of the UK scandal now engulfing Corporate Travel Management appears to have been a few years back thanks to its role in assisting the then UK government with its hardline immigration policy. This involved the management of a barge (a kind of floating Alcatraz) parked in UK’s Portland Harbour to house immigrants. After a public uproar, the occupants decamped to terrestrial accommodation.

Corporate Travel Management’s founder and major shareholder Jamie Pherous has been hosing down investors’ concerns, insisting that the scandal is cauterised in the UK region. But whether this explanation has received cut though with investors is unclear.

Since the company made a fairly innocuous statement in August that it had been informed by its auditors that there “may be some adjustments required relating to the timing of the recognition of certain revenues and costs between financial year 2025 and prior comparative periods” the shares have been in a trading halt.

Subsequent announcements have been drip-fed to the ASX - each one inching up on the horror index.

There is no timeline on when shares may restart trading and updated accounts are unlikely to be produced this year.

Loading

The price at which shares resume trading has become a 2026 new-year lottery. There are still a bunch of investors who had shorted the stock – which means they had placed a financial bet on the share price falling.

Others (who are thinner on the ground) believe this is a glitch from which the company can recover.

Without a share price north star to guide value, or a recent set of profit and loss accounts to reference, investors are playing a game of pin the (share price) tail on the corporate donkey – essentially plucking valuations out of the ether. The share price was around $16 when it was suspended, and the lower end of analysts’ or investors’ current valuations are pitched at around $5.

Whether the current boss and chairman will survive the scandal, remains to be seen.

Most Viewed in Business

Loading