CONTINUED FROM BACK COVER
conditions last month, a day after group chief executive Andrew Swaffield identified Greybull as preferred bidder. Monarch reported the pay cuts as “up to 30%”. Unite’s Oliver Richardson, national officer for civil air transport, told Travel Weekly: “All groups are taking significant pay cuts. For crew, the big cuts are [in] variable pay associated with flying and basic pay for senior crew. Main crew cannot have the same cuts to their basic as it would be below the legal minimums, but their variable [pay] is a higher proportion of their total income. Engineers face similar cuts to pilots.” Staff at Monarch Travel Group, which comprises Cosmos, Somewhere2stay and Avro, are undergoing the same process. However, the spokeswoman insisted: “The mood is quite upbeat. Everyone is focused on October 24.” Richardson said: “We’re faced with the
real prospect of all jobs being at risk if the company went into administration.” It is understood Phil Boggon has met tour operators and other Monarch partners to discuss future arrangements, with meetings held at Abta’s recent Travel Convention. However, one prominent tour operator said he had heard nothing from Monarch. Venture capital firm Greybull has not
invested in travel before, having focused on manufacturing and engineering, but has invested in leisure businesses such as a computer games retailer. Greybull founder and former investment
banker Marc Meyohas said of Monarch: “We need to have a low-cost base and have the right fleet.” Monarch reported a pre-tax profit of £5.9 million last year following a 15% rise in turnover to £957 million. Monarch Airlines carried 6.1 million passengers and Monarch Travel Group 911,000, with the airline contributing 60% of revenue. The small profit followed several years of losses during which the Mantegazza family injected £115 million into the group. Executive chairman Iain Rawlinson, who took over in 2009 and led several turnarounds, stood down in July. Swaffield joined Monarch Airlines as managing director in March and took over as group chief executive in July.
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TUI TRAVEL ‘TO DELIVER RECORD PROFITS’ DRIVEN BY ‘UNIQUE’ HOLIDAY DEMAND
Ian Taylor
Tui Travel reported that “strong demand” for its ‘unique’ holidays has boosted summer trading, leaving it “on target to deliver record profits” in the UK for the year to September. Unique holidays, sold exclusively by Tui in the UK, made up 70% of mainstream sales across the group this summer, up three points on last year, contributing to a forecast 9% rise in underlying profit year on year. Across the group, the proportion of mainstream bookings made online rose by nine percentage points to 37%. Tui reported mainstream summer bookings in the UK as flat year on year, but average selling prices up 1% to the end of September. It reported bookings for this winter up 5% and average prices up 2%, with unique holidays accounting for 84% of the total to date and online sales at 47%. Chief executive Peter Long said: “We’re
very pleased with our trading during the summer 2014 peak season, particularly in the UK and Germany. Our strong trading continues to be driven by customer demand for unique holidays and higher
conversion rates from our web platforms.” He said the UK and Germany was “on
target to deliver record profits” and said long-haul demand for the winter was being driven by expansion of its Boeing 787 fleet. The group is due to report full-year results on December 4 – the last to be published by Tui Travel if the merger with major shareholder, German-listed Tui AG, goes ahead as planned. Tui AG shareholders will vote on the proposals on the morning of October 28 and Tui Travel shareholders at a meeting later the same day.
EASYJET RAISES PROFIT FORECAST TO UP TO £580M
EasyJet has lifted its annual profit forecast to £580 million after benefiting from the Air France pilots’ strike at the end of September. The budget carrier expected to increase
its revenue by about £5 million as Air France passengers switched airlines. “This, combined with the strong finish to the year, means that the board’s expectation is for a pre-tax profit for the 12 months ended September 30 of between £575 million and £580 million, compared with the previous guidance of £545 million to £570 million,” it said in a statement. EasyJet expects to declare a dividend based on a payout ratio of 40% of profit after tax. The carrier also gained £2 million in the six months to September from lower fuel
costs and £15 million from exchange rate movements. The overall fuel bill is expected to drop by a further £20 million in the six months to March 2015 and by £50 million for the next full financial year. More than a quarter of seats for the first half of the next financial year have been sold, slightly ahead of this time last year. Chief executive Carolyn McCall said in
a pre-close trading update: “EasyJet has continued to execute its strategy, delivering another strong performance in the second half of the year.”
Carolyn McCall: ‘Strong
performance’
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