NEW THOMAS COOK PLC CEO TO PRESENT PLAN

Thursday, 02 August 2012

NEW THOMAS COOK PLC CEO TO PRESENT PLAN

Outlook for the year ahead remains challenging, but Harriet Green says she will deliver plan to reinvigorate the company next spring

Zachary-Cy Vanasse

Harriet Green, CEO, Thomas Cook Group plc

In her first statement since joining the company on July 30, new Thomas Cook Group plc CEO Harriet Green said she plans on revealing her new plan to reinvigorate the company next spring.

“My initial focus is to review our businesses, quickly establish priorities and develop a clear plan to reinvigorate Thomas Cook, which I expect to be able to present to you next spring,” Green said in a statement.

“The Group has been through a difficult period, but much has been achieved which has strengthened the balance sheet and improved liquidity. The strength of the Group’s brands and the quality of its businesses and people provides a foundation from which to bring the business back to full strength.”

In the interim management statement, the UK-based travel company said the outlook for the year ahead remains challenging; however the company experienced a strong summer in recent weeks following later booking patterns and poor weather in its markets.

“The Group’s quarterly financial trend is showing signs of improvement," it said. "We expect, that in the fourth quarter, the variance will narrow delivering a full year result broadly in line with expectations."

The group’s capacity management resulted in less summer holidays left to sell across all of the company’s tour operators and it was able to successfully deliver on the action plan designed to strengthen its balance sheet.

Last week, Thomas Cook announced that the sale of Spanish hotel chain, Hoteles Y Clubs De Vacaciones (HCV), to an Iberostar led consortium had been finalized and has generated a profit of approximately $90 million.

In addition, the group further increased liquidity by approximately $295 million through the sale and leaseback of aircrafts.

Revenue for the three months ending June 30 was down six per cent with the impact of planned capacity reductions which offset the additional revenue from acquisitions.

Thomas Cook experienced an underlying operating loss of approximately $41 million, which the company said was a reflection of the challenging trading environments across all markets, and increased operating costs as a result of acquisitions and input cost inflation.

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