After the first half of the financial year, the TUI Group is on track. In the second quarter of financial year 2010/11, TUI AG continued to grow and achieved substantial improvements in the Group result. Turnover rose by around 7 per cent to almost 3.1 billion euro (previous year 2.9 billion euro).

In the second quarter, operating earnings (underlying EBITA by Tourism and Central Operations) decreased by around 6 per cent to -256 million euro (previous year -240 million euro), driven partly by the crisis in North Africa.

Nevertheless, the Group result improved by 21 per cent to a seasonal loss of 209 million euro (previous year -266 million euro). Earnings per share accounted for -0.60 euro (previous year -0.73 euro) in the second quarter, a year-on-year improvement of around 18 per cent.

The net debt position showed a significantly positive development. Overall, net debt was reduced by around 730 million euro to 2.7 billion euro in the second quarter (previous year 3.4 billion euro).

TUI also recorded an improvement in accumulated results for the first six months of the financial year. Turnover grew by 9 per cent year-on-year to around 6.4 billion euro (previous year 5.8 billion euro). Operating earnings (underlying EBITA) improved by almost 2 per cent to -375 million euro (previous year -384 million euro).

The Group result, which is traditionally negative in the first half of the year due to the seasonality of the business, improved by almost 130 million euro to -304 million euro (previous year -432 million euro). This is an improvement of 30 per cent. Despite the impact of events in North Africa on the Tourism business, TUI has confirmed its outlook for the full year.

For financial year 2010/11, TUI expects growth in turnover (previous year around 16.3 billion euro) and a slight improvement in operating earnings (underlying EBITA previous year around 590 million euro). Against this background, TUI AG’s Executive Board continues to expect a positive Group result for the year.

Source: TUI