Thomas Cook cuts Q1 losses but revenue dips on Egypt woes

11th Feb 2014 07:00

Tour operator Thomas Cook unveiled lower quarterly losses but also posted a fall in revenue as holidaymakers avoided political turmoil in Egypt.Cook said underlying pre-tax losses before interest in the three months to December 31st improved by £10m to £56m. In the last 12 months, the group increased earnings by 36% to £274m.However, quarterly revenue fell 0.9% or £15m to £1.66bn due to lower customer demand for winter holidays to Egypt as the political unrest there kept tourists away.Thomas Cook said the fall in Egypt business offset improvements in capacity management and demand for new products, the revenue contribution from which was £131m.It said summer bookings at its "concept" hotels had risen 42% to 252,518 against a year ago, while summer city breaks increased 12% to 152,275.In common with rival TUI Travel, Cook is pursuing a strategy of offering tailored holidays and said its exclusive hotel portfolio had increased 44% to 445 since the end of the last financial year, putting it on track to hit a target of 640 by the next financial year.UK underlying quarterly pre-tax losses on a like-for-like basis were flat at £67m as cost-cutting offset the impact of Egypt unrest. Its online division increased business, with 36% of holidays booked on the internet against 34% a year ago.The group also announced a further step in its strategy to off-load non-core businesses by selling long-haul scheduled flight distributor Gold Medal to Dubai-based Dnata, part of Gulf carrier Emirates, for £45m.Overall, it said bookings for summer 2014 were progressing in line with its expectations and were similar to last year.Chief Executive Harriet Green called the results encouraging and said the group was confident of hitting targets.PW