Saga will combine its two tour operating businesses - Saga Holidays and Titan Travel - as the impact of Covid-19 continues to be felt on the tourism sector.

In a statement to markets this morning, the company said the move was designed to “maximise efficiency” in touring, where the product offerings are highly complementary.

Stock in Saga plc was up five per cent on release of the news.

The company also confirmed it would create a new hotel stay proposition, to be launched later this year.

At the same time, Saga confirmed management the river cruise operation is being moved to ocean cruise.

Saga said it hoped to make savings of between £10-15 million from the move, with around two-thirds of this amount relating to impairments of IT assets which are non-cash in nature.

Though conscious of further uncertainty in the market, Saga said it hoped to return to profitability in 2023.

Euan Sutherland, Saga group chief executive, said: “Saga has delivered a successful second half of the financial year with our insurance business remaining in growth and delivering positive momentum across all key metrics, while our cruise ships resumed their international itineraries.

“We approach the future with confidence, having demonstrated our ability to manage our way through recent challenges.

“We remain confident that the strength of our brand, our management team and our strengthened financial position will now allow us to return the business to sustainable growth, creating long-term value for our stakeholders.”