Tourism agency Thomas Cook expects to post its first full-year profit for four years in 2004/05 after losses in the first half narrowed, the company said today.
Its loss before interest, taxes and goodwill amortisation narrowed 28 per cent to €217 million in the six months ended April 30th. The pretax loss improved 37 per cent to €244.2 million. Sales rose 0.7 per cent to €2.4 billion.
The company, which is jointly owned by airline Deutsche Lufthansa and retailer KarstadtQuelle, is restructuring its business in an effort to return to net profit this year.
Finance chief Ludger Heuberg said Thomas Cook had focused on selling products with higher returns rather than on growth in the traditionally loss-making winter months.
The average cost of a holiday in the first half rose €10, or 1.8 per cent, from a year ago to €570; the number of customers dropped 1 per cent to 3.3 million.
Thomas Cook generates only a quarter of annual sales in the first half. Holiday bookings were up 5.2 per cent year-on-year as of the start of June. Germany led gains, up 9.8 per cent, and the United Kingdom saw a 2.5 per cent increase.