Broker snap: Healthy booking trends at Thos. Cook

14th May 2009 12:49

The Mexican flu scare has slowed some bookings at holiday firm Thomas Cook but the underlying momentum is encouraging, reckons KBC Peel Hunt.'Stripping out the short-term impact from Mexico, current booking patterns are trending towards capacity,' notes KBC analyst Nick Batram. 'Of particular note is that UK average prices are up 15% over the last three weeks, a significant improvement in Northern Europe bookings (+17% over the past three weeks) and a solid performance from Continental Europe (-3% bookings v -16% cumulative),' Batram adds.The company is on target to meet expectations at the operating level, in the view of KBC. 'We continue to like the medium to long-term prospects for the major tour operators and a prospective PE of 8x at the current point in the cycle looks good value for a group of Thomas Cook's quality,' the broker concludes, reiterating its 'buy' recommendation and 300p target price.