What makes Dart Group fly?

It’s curious how companies change. Dart (LON:DTG) – the multi-billion pound operator of the bright and bubbly Jet2 leisure travel business – started life in the 1970s as a transporter of flagrant flowers from Guernsey to the UK. Now it is perhaps better known for transporting slightly less fragrant stag parties. The company’s name is also rooted in its past: the type of plane that it first flew was a 1950s British turboprop aircraft called the Handley Page Dart Herald. Dart’s shares have been a terrific success for many shareholders. Over a five-year period, Dart’s share price has grown by an average of around 40% every year – and the group’s headline trading figures have kept up, with revenue more than doubling to £3.1bn and operating profit jumping from £33.2m to £222m. What’s more, brokers continue to view Dart Group’s prospects favourably and have increased forecasts for the next two years in light of Thomas Cook’s collapse. Despite this stellar track record, Dart Group continues to trade on an undemanding multiple of forecast earnings. Even after doubling in the past…