Thursday May 15, 10:27 AM
TUI sees margins, occupancy rates in tourism ops up in coming months UPDATE
(Updates to add value of assets held for sale)
FRANKFURT (Thomson Financial) - TUI AG (Xetra: TUAG00 - news) . said it expects
margins and occupancy rates in its tourism division to continue to increase in the coming months, helped by past restructuring and strong demand in the travel industry.
The company said it still sees 'considerable' earnings growth in both the tourism and shipping divisions.
In the first quarter, TUI's net loss widened to 166.8 million euros from 116.5 million euros in the year-earlier period on costs related to the consolidation of First Choice Holidays.
Last year, TUI merged its tourism operations, excluding some hotel assets, with First Choice Travel Plc., creating TUI Travel Plc (LSE: TT.L - news) ., in which TUI holds a 51 percent stake.
The company already said earlier this month that its first-quarter sales rose 24.3 percent to 5.1 billion euros, with the underlying loss before interest, tax and amortization narrowing to 196 million euros from 248 million.
TUI today said it still sees full-year tourism sales increasing 'significantly' from last year. For the group as a whole, the company said it cannot provide full-year earnings guidance due to the planned separation of the container shipping division, Hapag-Lloyd.
TUI earlier this year said it has decided to divest Hapag-Lloyd, either via a sale to an investor, or through a merger with a rival or a spin-off. So far, it has said it favours the option of a sale.
In its quarterly financial report, TUI said the value of assets held for sale, comprising largely Hapag-Lloyd, at the end of March stood at 3.75 billion euros.
Earnings in the shipping division, which are already accounted for as discontinued operations, will be impacted this year by a further rise in freight rates, increasing bunker costs and the euro's strength against the U.S. dollar, TUI said.
In the first quarter, freight rates, or the fees the company charges customers to transport containers, rose 14.3 percent from the year-earlier period, driven by a surge in rates on Far East (5029.KL - news) trade lanes.
Volumes were also up on the back of higher volumes on Trans-Pacific (002790.KS - news) and Australasian trade lanes.
The container shipping division swung to an underlying EBITA of 18 million euros from a year-earlier loss of 36 million euros. The year-earlier figure excludes gains from the disposal of a container terminal in Montreal.
|
Send Article by Email
