TUI Group is expecting profits this year to top its earlier forecast, it revealed today.
It said it was confident of delivering ‘between 12% and 13% growth’ in earnings before tax and interest for the year to the end of September. It had previously said profits would be ‘at least 10%’ up.
As a result of the announcement, TUI’s share price jumped 2.5% in early trading.
RIU and the Cruises division, together with ‘very positive development’ of the UK tour operator business, has contributed to what the group described as an ‘excellent’ result.
"TUI has held on to its market lead despite the severe geo-political challenges in some of its eastern Mediterranean and North African markets, proving itself to have strong resilience in what has been a challenging year for the industry," it said in a statement.
CEO Fritz Joussen said: "We’re driving growth and consistently pushing ahead with our transformation into an integrated tourism group focusing on our hotel and cruise business.
"The 2016 summer season, which was a particularly challenging time for tourism companies and airlines, proved that we have made the right strategic choices.
"Investments in new hotels and additional cruise ships have allowed us to strengthen our own products and brands over recent months.
"Reflecting on our positive outlook, we are also currently seeing good growth in revenue of 11% in the upcoming winter season.
"Growth in bookings for our long haul destinations is driving this positive development.
"We’re very strong in the Mediterranean region, we’re currently investing in the Caribbean and South-East Asia, and in the expansion of our current 14-strong cruise ship fleet. This diversity optimises our business and make our risks manageable."
For this coming winter, its long-haul bookings are up 26%, with strong growth to Mexico and the Dominican Republic. The group is also seeing growth in bookings to Cuba and Sri Lanka.
The TUI Group will publish its full-year results for 2015/16 on 8 December.
