Thomas Cook shrinks first-quarter loss
Thomas Cook slashed its underlying loss for the first quarter by £10 million to £56 million despite losing £15 million of business to Egypt during the three months up to the end of December.
Revenue during the period was down 0.9% to £1.656 million. Excluding Egypt, first-quarter revenue grew by 4.1% compared with the same period of the previous year.
Looking ahead to the rest of the year, the Group said bookings for summer 2014 were in line with expectations and at similar levels to last year.
Chief executive Harriet Green said: "Our Q1 results, new product revenue growth, web integration, cost out and profit improvement programmes combined with an intense business focus and financial discipline, all underpinned by the Thomas Cook Business System, give us confidence of achieving our targets and delivering even more value in the years to come."
Thomas Cook’s net debt reduced by £273 million to £1,286 million and its liquidity headroom improved by £84 million to £374 million by the end of December.
It has since announced the sale of Elegant Resorts and, earlier today, Gold Medal and sister brand Airline Network.
Thomas Cook announced today that more than a third – 36% – of its holidays are now booked online, half of which are from mobiles or tablets. Its target is to grow online bookings to 50% by 2015.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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