Brexit-bitten Brits shrug off woes to hit the beaches
Thomson owner Tui has said British holidaymakers have shrugged off the soaring cost of overseas trips from the Brexit-hit pound as summer bookings held firm.
The group said UK bookings were “as high as the previous year”, while customer numbers lifted 5% in the third quarter thanks to the later timing of Easter.
Tui also cheered strong demand for core European destinations after it switched away from Turkey and upped its group-wide sales outlook for the year.
It is expecting annual turnover to rise by more than 3 per cent, while Tui also said it made an underlying profit for the first time over the first nine months of its financial year – a period that traditionally sees seasonal losses.
Chief executive Fritz Joussen said the group was in “excellent shape”.
He added: “We have significantly reduced the seasonal swing of our business. For the first time, we have delivered a positive operating result for the first nine months of a financial year.”
The group confirmed it expects annual underlying earnings to rise by at least 10 per cent, having notched up a 37.7 per cent surge to €221.6 million (£200m) in its third quarter, thanks to a boost from Easter and the impact of the weak pound on UK sales.
With this stripped out, third-quarter earnings rose by 18.7 per cent to €191m.
Tui delivered nine-month earnings of €7.3m against losses of €45.5m a year earlier. It benefited from swift moves away from Egypt and Turkey following terrorist attacks in recent years, with security-conscious holidaymakers opting instead for destinations such as Greece, Spain, the Cape Verde Islands and long-haul holidays.
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The firm also confirmed it will start to roll out its Tui rebrand in the UK from the autumn, which will see it bring all brands under the group logo – marking the end of Thomson and First Choice as separate brands.
The UK is the last of its markets to see the rebrand, which was announced in 2015.