Shares in German travel giant TUI were trading up around 3% on Tuesday morning on the London Stock Exchange as the company updated investors on its latest financial results.
ADVERTISEMENTThe favourable share price follows the company’s reporting of its latest quarterly profit of €6 million on high travel demand, beating analyst estimates.
Revenues also soared 15% year-on-year to €4.3bn, while winter and summer bookings were up 8% year on year.
TUI also maintained its full-year forecast of a 10% increase in revenues and a 25% uplift in profits.
In a statement, Sebastian Ebel, the chief executive of Tui, said: “People’s willingness to travel is still high, despite a market environment that remains challenging. We are on track, we are gaining customers and we are growing. We are accelerating our transformation quarter by quarter.”
Commenting on the results, Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, noted that TUI seems to be getting back on track, just as it primes for an exit from the London market.
“The company’s first quarter numbers were better than expected as it notably swung from a big loss to a modest profit. A winning combination of higher demand and higher prices helped to deliver stellar results in what is traditionally the weakest period for the travel sector.
“It shows people are still willing to prioritise spending on holidays despite pressures on household budgets. How much further operators can push up prices is up for debate,” he said.
Mould also highlighted that there’s a good chance the sector may have to absorb a greater proportion of any increase in costs in the future if it doesn’t want to price too big a chunk of the population out of overseas holidays.
“At a meeting later, TUI is pushing for shareholders to vote to delist from the London Stock Exchange – in yet another blow to the prestige of the UK as a listing venue. There is an obvious logic to upgrading to a prime listing in Frankfurt given it is a German company and more of its shares are traded in its home country.
“As a patchy performer, TUI may not be massively missed by UK investors given the amount of turbulence they have had to endure – not helped by a global pandemic. However, if shareholders approve the London delisting, then it reduces the breadth and depth of a UK market already reeling from several snubs and high-profile departures,” he added.