Thomas Cook slashes annual losses

British travel firm Thomas Cook on Thursday announced a large reduction in annual losses as a result of deep cost-cutting. Losses after tax dropped to £199 million ($324 million, 239 million euros) in the year to the end of September from £585.7 million in 2011/12, Thomas Cook said in a results statement. "I am delighted to report that the first 365 days in the transformation of Thomas Cook have been a great success," said chief executive Harriet Green. "We've taken out more cost more quickly than originally planned," she added. The company has earlier this year announced plans to axe 2,500 jobs in Britain as part of its turnaround efforts after being plagued by the eurozone debt crisis, unrest in Egypt and high fuel costs. "Compared to last year, (current) winter bookings have been adversely impacted by social unrest in Egypt, which has resulted in significantly reduced demand to that destination," Thomas Cook said on Thursday. The company added that earnings before interest payments and tax (EBIT) came in at £13 million compared with a loss of £170 million one year earlier. It was the group's first operating profit since 2010. Annual group revenue meanwhile edged up 1.3 percent to £9.315 billion.