Tour operator Thomas Cook has seen UK summer package holiday bookings take a steep fall, it has confirmed.<\/p>\n
Bookings have dropped by nearly 33% in the two weeks to 13 January – a key period for tour operators.<\/p>\n
But it disputed a report in the Financial Times, which said the fall reflected a lack of consumer confidence following its recent refinancing.<\/p>\n
The company said the drop reflected a cut in holiday capacity in an attempt to cut costs.<\/p>\n
The FT said the drop at Thomas Cook was nearly three times the 11% fall at Thomson Holidays owner TUI over the same period.<\/p>\n
Thomas Cook shares were down 5% in morning trading.<\/p>\n
In a statement, Thomas Cook said: “We last reported UK bookings at our results on 14 December 2011.<\/p>\n
“This showed that we were going into January with a decent mainstream order book well ahead of the market.<\/p>\n
“However, as we explained at the time, given weak consumer sentiment, we had cut our planned capacity by 8%.<\/p>\n
“Therefore, we were expecting our intake plan to be well down in January, i.e. we would be managing bookings down towards capacity, focusing on margin rather than volume.”<\/p>\n
It added that the figures did not reflect its overseas performance or that of its specialist arms.<\/p>\n
Political unrest<\/p>\n
In November, Thomas Cook’s shares plunged 75% in one day after after it said it was in talks with banks about securing extra financing. It agreed funding of \u00a3200m a few days later.<\/p>\n
The firm blamed a string of events for its financial troubles, including unrest in Egypt and Tunisia and floods in Thailand – all key destinations – for hitting sales.<\/p>\n
The group, which has 1,300 outlets, has set out a turnaround plan for the UK business, including focusing on fewer and better quality hotels and a drive for more online bookings. It also plans to close 200 of its branches over the next two years.<\/p>\n
Thomas Cook reported in its delayed final results that its UK business saw underlying profits fall 68% to \u00a334.1m in the year after its margins slipped to just 1%.<\/p>\n
Charles Stanley analyst Douglas McNeil said the latest sales figures were a concern, but that investors should not read too much into a two-week booking period.<\/p>\n
“It would be unwise to place too much emphasis on a snapshot of trading over a very short period of time,” he said.<\/p>\n
“Nor does this data square very well with the notion that customers are fretting about Thomas Cook’s solvency, given that its December bookings were relatively strong.”<\/p>\n
Thomas Cook summer package bookings dive<\/p>\n
Tour operator Thomas Cook has seen UK summer package holiday bookings take a steep fall, it has confirmed.<\/p>\n
Bookings have dropped by nearly 33% in the two weeks to 13 January – a key period for tour operators.<\/p>\n
But it disputed a report in the Financial Times, which said the fall reflected a lack of consumer confidence following its recent refinancing.<\/p>\n
The company said the drop reflected a cut in holiday capacity in an attempt to cut costs.<\/p>\n
The FT said the drop at Thomas Cook was nearly three times the 11% fall at Thomson Holidays owner TUI over the same period.<\/p>\n
Thomas Cook shares were down 5% in morning trading.<\/p>\n
In a statement, Thomas Cook said: “We last reported UK bookings at our results on 14 December 2011.<\/p>\n
“This showed that we were going into January with a decent mainstream order book well ahead of the market.<\/p>\n
“However, as we explained at the time, given weak consumer sentiment, we had cut our planned capacity by 8%.<\/p>\n
“Therefore, we were expecting our intake plan to be well down in January, i.e. we would be managing bookings down towards capacity, focusing on margin rather than volume.”<\/p>\n
It added that the figures did not reflect its overseas performance or that of its specialist arms.<\/p>\n
Political unrest<\/p>\n
In November, Thomas Cook’s shares plunged 75% in one day after after it said it was in talks with banks about securing extra financing. It agreed funding of \u00a3200m a few days later.<\/p>\n
The firm blamed a string of events for its financial troubles, including unrest in Egypt and Tunisia and floods in Thailand – all key destinations – for hitting sales.<\/p>\n
The group, which has 1,300 outlets, has set out a turnaround plan for the UK business, including focusing on fewer and better quality hotels and a drive for more online bookings. It also plans to close 200 of its branches over the next two years.<\/p>\n
Thomas Cook reported in its delayed final results that its UK business saw underlying profits fall 68% to \u00a334.1m in the year after its margins slipped to just 1%.<\/p>\n
Charles Stanley analyst Douglas McNeil said the latest sales figures were a concern, but that investors should not read too much into a two-week booking period.<\/p>\n
“It would be unwise to place too much emphasis on a snapshot of trading over a very short period of time,” he said.<\/p>\n
“Nor does this data square very well with the notion that customers are fretting about Thomas Cook’s solvency, given that its December bookings were relatively strong.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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