Travel company Thomas Cook said today it was performing on target and expected cost savings from its recent merger to be higher than the €40 million originally seen.
The company, Europe's second-largest travel firm, created from the tie-up of Karstadtquelle's travel unit and Britain's Mytravel, said UK holiday prices had been weaker than it had hoped but that bookings in Scandinavia and its German airlines business would exceed its expectations.
Thomas Cook confirmed analysts' views that its original cost saving estimates from the merger of €140 million might have been too conservative.
Joint chief executive Manny Fontenla Novoa said the extra savings were not expected to come from more job cuts but from reductions on asset and technology costs.
He said the company was looking at a range of acquisitions in Germany, Russia, China and India as well as cash returns to shareholders.
Shares in Thomas Cook, which made their market debut at 326 pence in June, were up 0.7 per cent at 280.5 earlier this morning.