TUI Travel announces slump in annual net profits

Logo of tourism group TUI at Berlin's Tegel Airport TUI Travel, Europe's biggest tour operator, said on Tuesday that its annual net profits tumbled 57 percent on restructuring costs and other one-off charges. Profit after tax slid to £60 million ($99 million, 72 million euros) in the year to September 30 compared with 2011/12, TUI Travel said in an earnings statement.
Stripping out exceptional charges, underlying operating profits grew 20 percent to £589 million.
"We have once again reported record underlying profits across the business, significantly exceeding the top end of our growth roadmap target of 10 percent," chief executive Peter Long said in the statement.
"This follows strong margins across the peak summer period, particularly in the UK and accelerated business improvement delivery," he added.
Ahead, TUI Travel said its performance for the 2013/14 winter season is in line with the group's expectations, adding that it had made changes to its offering amid unrest in Egypt.
"To date 60 percent of the overall mainstream winter programme has been sold. As a result of the unrest in Egypt we have actively remixed the programme and reduced our capacity to Egypt which now accounts for less than five percent of the total programme," it added.
Source: AFP