German travel conglomerate TUI said its markets and airlines business' earnings went up by €138 million in the fourth quarter of the year up to the end of September 2022.
"All regions contributed", TUI Group said, to what was "a first positive underlying EBIT [earnings before interest and tax] since the start of the pandemic".
Fourth quarter 2022 revenue improved by €4.2bn to €7.6bn. Excluding the impact of flight disruptions costs of €58 million, TUI's EBIT was €1.1bn for the quarter. The rise was driven by the release in 2022 of "pent-up demand for holiday travel", which had been suppressed since 2020 due to travel curbs. Markets & Airlines revenue EBIT was €612 million compared to a loss of €138 million in Q4 FY2021.
The group said 7.6 million airline customers, or 93% of the number counted during 2019's final quarter, travelled during the period, with airline load factors hitting 92%.
The return to something like normal life meant TUI would operate a winter 2022/23 programme "close to pre-pandemic levels". But it warned of "market uncertainties" caused by "the effects of the war in Ukraine", the lingering impact of the pandemic, inflationary pressure on energy and volatile current exchange rates.
But with bookings at 134% of 2021/22 winter and 84% of 2018/19, the plan, the group said, is to operate at "close to pre-pandemic levels", with the revived consumer demand likely "to help soften the impact of FX volatility and the current higher inflationary environment".
TUI's net debt at the end of the fourth quarter was €3.4bn significantly improved against €5.0bn in the previous year. The company's net leverage has improved to 3.2x well below the headroom covenant of 4.5x. TUI's liquidity position is €3.7bn, providing a buffer for the remainder of the Winter season.