Return to Frankfurt
TUI is celebrating its stock market comeback with Kursplus
April 8, 2024, 4:57 p.m
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After a decade in London, TUI returns to the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. The tourism giant hopes for one thing above all from the main listing on the German trading center: growth. The company wants to break its own records with strong summer business and expansion into new markets.
The travel group TUI hopes that the return of its shares to the Frankfurt Stock Exchange as the main trading venue will stimulate growth. The concentration on the German stock exchange through the withdrawal of the main listing from the London Stock Exchange after ten years makes the TUI share more attractive for global investors, said CEO Sebastian Ebel at the traditional ringing of the stock exchange bell on the trading floor in Frankfurt. “We want to expand our international presence, continue to grow profitably and support this growth with simpler structures.”
The share started trading with an increase of 1.4 percent to 7.73 euros and expanded its profits. In June, TUI could move into the MDax small cap index. Since 2014, the company has been listed on the London stock market, on the Hanover Stock Exchange and on the open market of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange due to the merger with the British TUI Travel. The majority of share trading has now moved to Germany, which is why TUI no longer considered a dual listing to be sensible. Cost advantages and increased prestige also speak in favor of a main listing on the leading German stock exchange.
On the London Stock Exchange, the stock has mostly been on a downward trend since its peak of 54 pounds in the travel boom year of 2018. In the opinion of TUI management, this does not reflect the good business prospects given the continued high demand for travel. TUI has fully recovered from the Corona crisis, which the group survived thanks to government aid. In recent years, the company has focused on surviving the crisis through capital increases. The stock fell so sharply that it was thrown out of the index in London. “That has now been set to zero – we would like us to be evaluated purely operationally,” said CFO Mathias Kiep.
“We are heading into the summer with healthy optimism”
With five airlines, three cruise lines and around 400 hotels, TUI is already the world’s largest tourism group. This year, the tour operator expects at least as many customers as before the corona pandemic in 2019, when a good 20 million people vacationed with TUI. Sales are expected to increase by at least ten percent to around 23 billion euros, and the adjusted operating result is expected to increase by at least 25 percent to a good 1.2 billion euros. Ebel explained that he is sure that these goals will be achieved. “We are heading into the summer with healthy optimism.” In the future, the travel giant, which has so far mainly had customers in Germany and Great Britain, wants to attract tourists in destination countries such as Spain or China.
In addition to pre-organized package holidays, TUI is increasingly relying on individually put together tours and individual bookings for hotels and flights or the sale of tickets for activities via an app. “We don’t see ourselves as organizers, but as a marketing platform,” said Ebel. An important step towards this was the takeover of the Musement platform, with which TUI competes with the market leader “Get your Guide”. According to Ebel, growing through acquisitions is not on the agenda for the time being, but rather further development through our own efforts. “We have to watch our money, reduce debt and increase profitability.”