After reporting underlying losses of €273.6 million for its first quarter to the end of December, narrowed from losses of €675.8 million a year ago, holiday group Tui has predicted a strong summer season thanks to pent-up demand as travel restrictions ease.
The group reported revenues up five-fold to €2.37 billion from €468 million a year ago, helped by surging prices – up 22% for summer trips and 15% higher for winter holidays. Tui also reports strong booking momentum across all markets with new bookings for summer 2022 now above pre-crisis levels.
Tui said the Omicron variant of coronavirus was a “short-term dampener” at the end of November and December, with holidaymakers still looking to book at the last minute amid fears of restrictions and disruption.
Some 2.3 million guests travelled with TUI in the reporting period - more than four times as many guests as the previous year. Tui also stated that its liquidity was high in the winter quarter at €3.3 billion. With the successful second capital increase of €1.1 billion, TUI's equity improved from €3.0 billion to over €4 billion on a pro forma basis. In addition, the TUI Group's equity is also positive at €0.4 billion.
TUI CEO Fritz Joussen: "We expect a strong summer 2022. The path out of the pandemic is becoming increasingly clear. Demand for travel is high across all markets. TUI has used the time to transform: we are leaner and more efficient today and are becoming more profitable than before the crisis. On this basis, we will push ahead with the repayment of the state aid granted and the focus on new growth."
For Winter 2021/22, TUI has advised to reach the lower to middle corridor of 60 to 80 percent of pre-pandemic capacities. So far, around 2.3 million guests have travelled with TUI in the first winter quarter. At +15 per cent, the average prices achieved are significantly higher than in the 2018/19 Winter.
Tui adds that all measures of the efficiency programme launched in 2020 have been implemented. In the 2022 financial year, around 90 per cent of the cost reduction target will already be reflected in earnings. The programme envisages annual savings of €400 million from 2023 onwards.
In the spring (1 April 2022), the Group plans to hand back around €0.7 billion in state aid as a first step.