19th Sep 2023 09:25
(Alliance News) - Tui AG backed its guidance on Tuesday, after enjoying a strong summer for bookings and seeing "positive momentum" going into the winter.
Shares in the tour operator were 6.2% higher at 495.80 pence each in London on Tuesday morning, the best FTSE 250 performer. It ends its financial year on September 30.
Tui reported a "strong pipeline" of bookings for the summer 2023 period, rising 5% on-year to 13.7 million, taking it to 96% of pre-pandemic levels. Demand in the final month alone was robust, rising 8% year-on-year.
Tui's success is despite extreme weather in Europe, including in the Greek island of Rhodes, which suffered wildfires.
"We are seeing a strong close to the summer season and we are on course to achieve results in line with expectations. This is particularly evident in our main markets Germany where bookings year-on-year are 10% higher and UK where bookings are in line with an already strong prior year summer season and 4% ahead of pre-pandemic levels," Chief Executive Officer Sebastian Ebel said.
"Indeed, had it not been for the various events during the last few months which were outside of our control, not least the wildfires on Rhodes, we would have performed ahead of expectations."
For the winter season, it said bookings are 15% higher on-year. Ebel labelled this a "very encouraging signal".
"We have a clear strategy for the coming years introducing new products, growing our customer base and developing our market share, supported by the Tui customer ecosystem. We will update the market on our latest strategic initiatives and progress made when we announce our full year results in December," the CEO added.
Tui reconfirmed its expectations for underlying earnings before interest and tax for both the fourth quarter and whole of the financial year to increase "significantly".
Its underlying Ebit in the fourth quarter of financial 2022 amounted to EUR1.04 billion, while for the full-year, it totalled EUR409 million.
By Eric Cunha, Alliance News news editor
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