The heatwave prevailing throughout Europe this summer has impacted the profits of the tour operating giant Thomas Cook. The heat has resulted in more people choosing to stay in the comfort of their homes instead of booking holidays at the last minute with their entire families.
Despite the travel operator reporting an increase of 11 per cent in booking for the summer, the bookings have significantly slowed down in recent week sand are now almost the same as the figures reported by the century old firm last year.
This has resulted in the company presenting a forecast for its earnings that is towards the lower end of the market expectations.
Most of the annual profits for Thomas Cook are made during the peak summer months with travelers and holiday makers going to various summer destinations within Europe and beyond.
The slowdown in bookings in the recent weeks has been some what offset by the overall increase in the summer holiday bookings, said the Chief executive of the company Peter Fankhauser.
"Customers across our European markets have delayed decisions about their summer holidays as they enjoy the record temperatures at home," he said.
But there is still optimism about the future of the company among analysts for the long term. For example, financial services company Jefferies said: "This year's abnormal weather does not affect our longer-term investment thesis, which remains unchanged."
There was an increase of 3 per cent in the stock price of Thomas Cook on Tuesday morning.
The company reported that while there was an increase of bookings in the UK by just 1 per cent this quarter, the increase in prices of holidays have increased by an average of 7 per cent primarily because of an increase of prices of hotels because of inflation in Spain.
Peter Fankhauser added: "It's clear that we remain in a competitive environment, particularly in the UK where the growth in popularity of higher-margin destinations like Turkey and Egypt has not fully offset the continued pressure on margins to Spanish holidays."
(Source:www.bbc.com)
Despite the travel operator reporting an increase of 11 per cent in booking for the summer, the bookings have significantly slowed down in recent week sand are now almost the same as the figures reported by the century old firm last year.
This has resulted in the company presenting a forecast for its earnings that is towards the lower end of the market expectations.
Most of the annual profits for Thomas Cook are made during the peak summer months with travelers and holiday makers going to various summer destinations within Europe and beyond.
The slowdown in bookings in the recent weeks has been some what offset by the overall increase in the summer holiday bookings, said the Chief executive of the company Peter Fankhauser.
"Customers across our European markets have delayed decisions about their summer holidays as they enjoy the record temperatures at home," he said.
But there is still optimism about the future of the company among analysts for the long term. For example, financial services company Jefferies said: "This year's abnormal weather does not affect our longer-term investment thesis, which remains unchanged."
There was an increase of 3 per cent in the stock price of Thomas Cook on Tuesday morning.
The company reported that while there was an increase of bookings in the UK by just 1 per cent this quarter, the increase in prices of holidays have increased by an average of 7 per cent primarily because of an increase of prices of hotels because of inflation in Spain.
Peter Fankhauser added: "It's clear that we remain in a competitive environment, particularly in the UK where the growth in popularity of higher-margin destinations like Turkey and Egypt has not fully offset the continued pressure on margins to Spanish holidays."
(Source:www.bbc.com)
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