p14 City Dec4 2/12/09 20:53 Page 14
City & finance
Keep up to date with the travel industry’s financial news and results at ttglive.com
Tui and Thomas Cook reported full-year finances this week.
Chris Gray and Rob Gill examine how the big two fared
Tui
during the recession and what the City made of their results
Full-year results to
September 30, 2009
Tui will discount
GROUP
Pre-tax profit: £366 million (+15%)
during World Cup
Operating profit: £443 million (+11%)
Profit margin: 3.2% (2.9% last year)
Revenue: £13.8 billion (flat)
Chris Gray.
to £366 million, of
TUI TRAVEL is planning which the UK con-
to deploy tactical tributed £184 million, UK AND IRELAND
discounts to stimulate up £51 million (38%) on Operating profit: £184 million (+38%)
demand during the the year before. Profit margin: 5.6% (3.9% last year)
World Cup next year. Revenue for the year Revenue: £3.3 billion (-5%)
Chief executive Peter to the end of September
Long (pictured) said was £13.9 billion, flat
discounting would be on the year before, and
used appropriately underlying profit was
during the tournament up 11% to £443 million. UK WINTER 2009-10
to counter fears that UK winter bookings Average selling price: +10%
it – and next year’s gen- for the four weeks to Total bookings: -6%
eral election – could hit December 1 were down Bookings (last four weeks): -4%
holiday bookings. 4% on the same period Overall capacity: -15%
Speaking after Tui in 2008, but bookings Holidays left to sell v 2008 (y-o-y): -13%
released its full-year were still down 16% for
results to the end of the year to date.
September, Long said he expected consumer The company said winter capacity reductions
confidence to be stronger in 2010. “They [the meant it had 13% fewer holidays left to sell in UK SUMMER 2010
World Cup and election] are not as big an issue as the UK, and average selling prices were up 10% Average selling price: +7%
the near collapse of the banking system or the but margins were flat year-on-year. Bookings: -3%
economic downturn and what that did to con- Summer 2010 bookings to date were down 3%
sumer confidence,” he said. on last year but average selling prices were up
That was borne out by a steady increase in 7%, which Tui said was partly due to a move away
bookings for the winter 2009-10 season over the from short-haul and towards more differentiated
ACQUISITIONS.
past four weeks, Long added. products. Savings from the merger of Thomson
Tui reported full-year pre-tax profits up 15% and First Choice were on track to be £200 million.
A year of buyouts:
£89m on 12 firms
ACCOMMODATION.
Bed banks report 30% growth
TUI spent £89 million on acquiring 12 companies
during the year to the end of September.
Seven of the acquisitions were in the UK, and
TUI’s online trade bed banks, Hotelbeds and average selling prices. Similar trends were seen four of those – Sport Abroad, Edwin Doran,
Bedsonline, grew by nearly a third in the year to in Tui’s consumer bed banks: laterooms.com, Teamlink Travel and Off the Piste – were in the
the end of September. asiarooms.com and hotelopia. activity sector.
Growth was fuelled by an expansion of Tui said improved functionality on the First The other UK acquisitions were the language
bed-stock and reductions in prices by suppliers, Choice and Thomson websites had increased school EAC Language Centres, ground-handler
Tui said in its presentation of annual results. online volumes. This was helped by the launch of Aragon Tours and cruise operator Island Cruises.
It led to a 30% year-on-year increase in the MyThomson portal, which allows customers This year’s activity followed 16 acquisitions
customers for winter trading, but an 8% drop in to access bookings, pay balances and select seats. worth £109 million the year before.
14 04.12.2009
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