Thomas Cook Sticks With Growth Forecast

The summer season was around 91% sold, the same level as 2014, though Tunisia remains “effectively closed” for the time being.

Travel company Thomas Cook maintained its guidance for growth this year and said late summer trading had seen strong demand for holidays to Greece and Egypt.

It said 39% of the winter season is sold and all its major source markets are ahead of previous year in terms of booking volumes, with improved pricing trends particularly in the United Kingdom and Northern Europe.

It added that the strategy of investing in long haul routes was paying off, with “particularly strong growth in holidays to the US and the Caribbean”.

However, bookings were flat as capacity was slightly down and average selling prices were one per cent lower, due to an increase in the proportion of “seat only” sales rather than packages.

The holiday group also came under fire for its response to the inquest into the deaths of two young children Bobby and Christi Shepherd, who died from carbon monoxide poisoning while on a Thomas Cook holiday in Corfu nine years ago.

Cook said its underlying business has continued to develop in line with our expectations, despite the impact of disruption in certain destinations and “significant foreign exchange headwinds”.

Northern Europe also enjoyed a boost after a slow start to the year, with demand accelerating substantially and summer 2015 holidays 99% sold.

It also warned that 99p Stores’ financial position had “weakened somewhat” since its original look at the company’s books ahead of the deal.

“Over the last three years we have made excellent progress transforming our business”, explains Fankhauser.

“The next phase of transformation will aim to better integrate our businesses across geographies, with a higher quality and more focused holiday offering”.

Full year results are expected to be in line with expectations.