Thomas Cook shares "worthless" says Citigroup

Thomas Cook shares fell 30% after analysts at a bank said the travel agency's shares were "worthless".

Thomas Cook's tour operations and airline amount to £ 738m, but his debt is about the same "and implies a zero capital value," according to Citigroup.

Citigroup's damning conclusion came one day after Thomas Cook issued his third profit warning in less than a year and announced a loss of £ 1.5 billion per semester.

His outlook was "significantly weaker than expected," said Citigroup.

Analysts also drew the EY auditor's attention to the results of Thomas Cook, who had warned of "significant uncertainties" over the sale of his airline by the group, on which rests a new banking facility £ 300 million.

"Like the auditors, we are seeing significant uncertainties regarding the sale of the airline and the new lending facilities," said Citigroup.

He also warned that the recent poor performance of the company could "destabilize consumers and lead to further weakness in bookings."

Analysts at Morgan Stanley shared Citigroup's concerns, saying its worst (downside) forecast was also that the company's value would be zero. However, he said that if things went well (bull box), the company's shares could go from their current price of about 20 pence to 50 pence.

"With the course of action at 20p, the valuation values ​​something in the middle, but we think that the case of the bear is more likely than that of the bull," he said. declared.

Thomas Cook is looking for candidates for his 105 jet fleet while she is trying to raise money for the company. The travel agency said Thursday has received "multiple offers".

The company is looking to reduce costs. It has closed 21 of its High Street stores, its monetary arm, Thomas Cook Money, is being revised and new "cost savings" are planned.

He attributed a series of problems to his profit warnings, including political unrest in holiday destinations such as Turkey, the prolonged heat wave of last summer and customers delaying holiday booking due Brexit. But he also suffered from competition from online travel agents and low cost airlines.

Thomas Cook declined to comment on the analysts' notes.