From October to December, the adjusted operating result was positive for the first time in ten years at six million euros, TUI announced on Tuesday. Normally, a loss is recorded in the first half of the financial year from October to March - in the previous year, the loss amounted to 153 million euros. The profit is made during the peak travel season in summer. "In a persistently challenging market environment, TUI benefited from the sustained demand for travel with higher prices and rates," explained the Hanover-based group.

Turnover rose by 15 percent to a record high of 4.3 billion euros, while the number of guests increased by six percent to 3.5 million. "We are on course, we are winning customers and growing," said Group CEO Sebastian Ebel.

Currently and for the summer, bookings are going well. At 9.4 million, they are currently eight percent up on the previous year and average prices are four percent higher. In winter, people are drawn to the Canary Islands, Cape Verde or Egypt. The most popular destinations for the summer are still Spain, Greece and Turkey. The Group has therefore confirmed its annual targets. Turnover is expected to increase by at least ten percent to around 23 billion euros, while the adjusted operating result is expected to rise by at least 25 percent to a good 1.2 billion euros. For the year as a whole, the tour operator expects at least as many customers as before the coronavirus pandemic in 2019, when a good 20 million people went on vacation with TUI.

In the medium term, operating earnings are expected to increase by seven to ten percent annually. TUI wants to grow primarily in South and North America as well as Southern Europe and become less dependent on Germany. "The general conditions in Germany are poor. TUI will and should grow globally," explained Ebel. The Group, which has been hit hard by the coronavirus crisis, wants to significantly reduce its debt in order to lower its financing costs with a higher credit rating.

WAITING FOR NEW BOEING MAX

The debacle surrounding the Boeing MAX-9 aircraft model, which caused an accident at the beginning of the year due to sloppiness on the part of the aircraft manufacturer and its suppliers, is causing TUI to wait even longer for new aircraft of this type. Firm orders have been placed for 46 MAX-8s and MAX-10s, most of which will only be delivered in the next two years. TUI has options on a further 32 aircraft. "We are highly satisfied with the Boeings we fly, they are very high-performance aircraft," said Ebel. It was annoying that the hoped-for efficiency gains were a long time coming. But the TUI airlines had made provisions with extended aircraft leasing so that there was no bottleneck.

The world's largest travel group will soon return to Germany with the main stock exchange listing of its shares. At the Annual General Meeting starting at 11.00 a.m., shareholders are to decide whether to delist TUI shares from the London Stock Exchange after around ten years. If they give the green light, the Hanover-based company is likely to move up to the second-line MDax index on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in the middle of the year.

(Report by Ilona Wissenbach, edited by Sabine Wollrab. If you have any queries, please contact the editorial team at frankfurt.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com)