Charter giant TUI is delivering a strong first quarter following the bankruptcy of competitor Thomas Cook last fall. Despite the uncertainty surrounding Boeing's 737 Max crash, the company says 2020 has started "exceptionally well.".
TUI's turnover in the first quarter of the company's broken financial year, which runs between October and December, amounted to EUR 3,850 million, equivalent to just over SEK 40 billion, which was an increase of 7.7 percent compared to the corresponding quarter the previous year.
The net loss amounted to EUR 105 million, which is an improvement of almost 6 percent compared to the corresponding period the previous year. The first quarter is normally tough for the charter industry, as relatively few choose to travel during the winter months.
TUI themselves write in the report that the strong development of the airline business is due to the bankruptcy of "a key competitor", which has increased TUI's market share.
The company TUI is referring to is British Thomas Cook. The long-established travel company went bankrupt in September last year after failing to sort out the difficult financial situation the company found itself in. However, the Swedish part of Thomas Cook, with the Ving brand, was saved after Norwegian hotel magnate Petter Stordalen, together with Harald Mix's venture capital company Altor, bought the business.
TUI continues to predict that Boeing's grounded 737 Max model can be returned to service at the end of April, but after Boeing's increasingly pessimistic statements at the beginning of the year, TUI has secured a replacement plan throughout 2020. If the 737 Max flight shutdown continues throughout 2020, TUI expects additional costs of between 220 and 270 million euros.
According to TUI, 2020 has started "exceptionally well", and in the UK, which Thomas Cook had as a key market, January saw the highest booking figures in a single month in TUI's history.
However, the company notes that there remains some concern about Brexit. It remains unclear whether flights will have full access to European airspace after the negotiation period between the EU and the UK has ended.
At 10:30 a.m., TUI's shares on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange surged just over 11 percent.
Source: di.se
