Tui Travel, the UK arm of the German travel group Tui AG, have posted a £289m loss in the first six months to March, which represents a 9% reduction on last year. The loss was down £28m from the £317m loss posted in the first half of 2012.
While tour operators generally report losses during the traditionally weaker first half of the year and make the majority of their profits during the summer months, Tui Travel have enjoyed a strong 2012/13 winter season which closed well ahead of expectations, mainly due to their strategy of targetting budget conscious travellers booking fixed price holidays. By targetting the budget-conscious traveller, Tui have raised their visibility and claim that over 58% of their summer 2013 mainstream program has been sold.
Peter Long, Tui chief executive said “given current trading and the visibility we have within our businesses we anticipate full year underlying profit growth of at least 10% on a constant currency basis”
Shares in Tui travel have risen 21% since the start of the year, valuing the company at £3.86bn.
Source: Tui
