(BFM Bourse) – The German tour operator published quarterly accounts above expectations, driven by the strong recovery in global tourism since 2022.
The tour operator TUI benefited from an increase in its reservations in the first quarter of its staggered financial year (the October-December period), driven by the good health of the tourism sector, but is concerned about the impact of the “rise of nationalism ” in the world.
The German group recorded an operating profit of 6 million euros between October and December, after a loss of 153 million in the same period last year, according to a press release published on Tuesday.
A “strong desire” to travel among its customers
This is the “first time” that the group has not experienced an operational loss for the first quarter of the year. This period, at the bottom of the tourist season, is also traditionally weighed down by “prepayments of costs, like hotels, for the summer season”, explains a spokesperson to AFP.
The company, which offers a range of travel, hotels, charter flights and cruises, welcomed 3.5 million customers during this period, an increase of 200,000 over the year. Its revenues, at 4.3 billion euros, increased by 15% over one year.
“TUI benefits from a strong desire to travel among its customers, and from higher prices,” the company said in its press release. The group therefore confirmed its forecasts for the entire current financial year, with growth of 10% in turnover and 25% in operating profit.
CEO Sebastian Ebel, however, expressed concern about the impact on global tourism activity of the “current wave of nationalism in Germany, Europe and the world.” “Tourism depends on exchanges and tolerance like no other industry,” he declared, calling for “not to be indifferent.” Massive demonstrations have been organized in recent weeks in Germany to protest against the ideas of the far-right AfD party, which is surging in the polls.
A return home
The company is benefiting from the strong recovery in global tourism since 2022, which has returned to levels now comparable to those before the coronavirus pandemic.
TUI sharply reduced its net losses, which reached 122.6 million euros in the first quarter of 2023/2024, compared to 256.1 million in the same period last financial year. Thanks to the improvement in its financial situation, the group fully repaid last year the public aid from the German state which saved it from bankruptcy in 2020.
“We have managed to overcome the challenges of the pandemic,” welcomed the chairman of the supervisory board Dieter Zetsche, during a speech to shareholders.
The German company is holding its general meeting of shareholders on Tuesday, during which a vote on the group’s return to the Frankfurt Stock Exchange must be held.
Mainly listed on the London Stock Exchange since its merger with its British subsidiary TUI Travel in 2014, TUI announced in December that it wanted to repatriate to Germany. A listing in Frankfurt would have the dual advantage of simplifying trading and refocusing liquidity management, the company argued.
More than 77% of the group’s securities are in fact currently held and traded in Germany, detailed TUI. However, a majority of 75% of voters must be present to approve this measure.
(With AFP)
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