It's still getting its planes in a row after the merger between the UK and German entities last year, but at least Tui (TUI) is taxiing again. Management is keen to make sure the business is focused on fewer things, hence the announcement late last month that it would be selling its Hotelbeds business for €1.2bn (£947m) to the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. It is going one further by hiving off its specialist travel division (bar one of the brands), which it said had "limited linkage" to its new-feel business model, which has emerged post-merger.
First-half sales were lower than consensus expectations, but this was due to the Hotelbeds disposal, something analysts had not baked in. However, an operating loss of €236.9m was better than the consensus estimate of €247m, which showed progress, with help from strong trading in cruises. The group's 'northern' region held up best, mainly thanks to the UK, while the 'central' region struggled due to challenging trading conditions in Germany. Lower demand for holidays in north Africa and Turkey hit this geographical division as well as the 'western' region, which includes France and Belgium - themselves recent targets of terrorism.
Analysts at Barclays expect adjusted pre-tax profits of €918m in the year to September 2016, leading to EPS of 98¢ up from €836m and 87¢ in FY2015.
| TUI AG (TUI) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 1,048p | MARKET VALUE: | £6.15bn | |
| TOUCH: | 1,047-1,049p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 1,287p | LOW: 957p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | nil | PE RATIO: | 21 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 207¢* | NET DEBT: | 89% | |
| Half-year to 31 Mar | Turnover (€bn) | Pre-tax profit (€m) | Earnings per share (¢) | Dividend per share (¢) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 6.61 | -474 | -0.45 | nil |
| 2016 | 6.79 | -471 | -0.75 | nil |
| % change | +3 | -1 | +67 | - |
Ex-div: na Payment: na *Includes intangible assets of €3.7bn, or 639¢ a share £1=€1.27 | ||||
