London - Thomas Cook said full-year earnings were positive for the first time in five years as the UK tour operator boosted business from its home market.
Profit after tax for the 12 months through September 30 was 19 million pounds ($29 million), compared with a loss of 115 million pounds a year earlier, the London-based company said in a statement on Wednesday. Underlying earnings before interest and taxes fell 4 percent to 310 million pounds, the company said. The shares jumped the most since March.
“Despite turbulence in some of our destinations, the underlying business performed in line with our plans at the start of the year, demonstrating its greater resilience,” Chief Executive Officer Peter Fankhauser said in the statement. The new fiscal year has gotten off to a “good start” with “encouraging” bookings for the winter and summer travel.
Fankhauser, CEO since November 2014, is pushing through a new round of restructuring after predecessor Harriet Green was credited with rescuing the more than 170-year-old company by slashing costs following an emergency bank loan Thomas Cook arranged in 2011. Fankhauser secured financing through 2018 with bond sales and added hotels run under the company’s own brands. At the same time, plans to boost online bookings and add product lines are behind schedule.
Winter bookings
Last year, Thomas Cook was buoyed by a 42 percent surge in the underlying Ebit of its UK business, more than offsetting a 21 percent decline in Continental Europe, where competition intensified. Winter bookings in the UK and Northern Europe have been encouraging, the tour operator said.
Thomas Cook shares jumped as much as 10 percent, the biggest intraday gain since March 6, and were up 9.9 percent at 108.1 pence at 8:33 a.m in London. The gain narrowed the stock’s decline for the year to 16 percent.
“With our business on a firmer financial footing, we have a clear strategy in place to deliver greater value for customers and sustainable growth for our shareholders,” the CEO said.
BLOOMBERG