Thomas Cook plunges into the red … because of the heat wave in Europe



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By AFP

British tour operator Thomas Cook has announced that it has fallen into the red in 2017-2018. At issue: the demand for the southern holiday has dropped following a summer heat wave in Europe.

In its annual financial year ending in late September, the group deplored a net loss of 163 million pounds (184 million euros), against a slight net profit of 10 million pounds the previous year, according to data. recalculated published in a press release.

"2018 was a disappointing year for Thomas Cook, despite significant advances in our transformation strategy for our model. After a good start to the year, we suffered a drop in our margins following a prolonged period of strong summer heat in our main markets, "said managing director Peter Fankhauser.

The tour operator created in 1841 sells vacations in the southern countries in particular to customers living in the north of Europe; United Kingdom, Germany and Scandinavia. The hot summer in these northern areas pushed potential tourists to stay at home rather than travel to the usual sunny destinations and this undermined the group's margins in fine.

Thomas Cook also put forward a higher tax score than the previous year to explain the deterioration in its bottom line.

Positive anyway

However, he also mentioned a few positive points, including an increase in the popularity of destinations such as North Africa, Turkey and Greece, which offset lower revenues from Spain whose tourist appeal had soared. previous years.

Thomas Cook also highlighted the growth in the number of flights operated by the airlines – including the German Condor and the British Thomas Cook Airlines. Its aerial activities benefited from the bankruptcies of two companies competing last year, the German Air Berlin and the British Monarch, in a turbulent European aviation sector.

Its turnover, including all activities, rose by 6% to 9.584 billion pounds (10.8 billion euros).

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