As far as public relations go, Thomas Cook (TCG) has had a rough passage lately. Back in November chief executive Harriet Green unleashed much speculation by resigning with immediate effect without a clear explanation, while the media have more recently focused on the holiday firm's handling of the death of two children at a hotel in Corfu nine years ago. All this has masked what might be an improving picture for the travel firm's shareholders. The board even intends to resume dividend payments next year.
Despite a typically weaker first half, new chief executive Peter Fankhauser said two years of self-help measures - including product improvements and customer services initiatives - along with stable gross margins had yielded a 23 per cent improvement in operating losses to £220m. The UK business did particularly well, reporting a one percentage-point increase in margins, as did Airlines Germany, which also boosted its margins.
The summer 2015 season is 62 per cent sold, with bookings running 2 per cent ahead of last year. Perhaps surprisingly, however, management warn that the booking performance in the third quarter has been below par, with soft demand and more customers booking later than expected in the cycle.
Analysts at Numis expect pre-tax profits of £210m for the current financial year, giving EPS of 11p. This compares with £182m and 11.1p last year.
THOMAS COOK (TCG) | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
ORD PRICE: | 156p | MARKET VALUE: | £2.4bn | |
TOUCH: | 155-156p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 167p | LOW: 99p |
DIVIDEND YIELD: | nil | PE RATIO: | na | |
NET ASSET VALUE: | * | NET DEBT: | £700m |
Half-year to 31 Mar | Turnover (£bn) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
---|---|---|---|---|
2014 | 3.01 | -366 | -25.3 | nil |
2015 | 2.74 | -303 | -20.8 | nil |
% change | -9 | - | - | - |
Ex-div: na Payment: na *Negative shareholder funds |