Germany's TUI rebounds
December 10, 2014
TUI AG announced Wednesday its net profit after minorities came in at 104.7 million euros ($129.6 million) in its 2013/2014 fiscal year ending September, up from a loss of 11.1 million euros in the year before.
Underlying earnings rose by 14 percent to 868 million euros, the Germany-based travel and tourism group said.
TUI AG Chief Executive Fritz Joussen said the company had "significantly outperformed" its original earnings targets thanks to its oneTUI efficiency program that was "truly paying off."
"We have now launched the growth phase, which will gain momentum through the successful merger with TUI Travel PLC," he added.
Market leader in the making
After a period of restructuring, TUI announced it was now investing in improving its hotel portfolio and in buying more cruise ships. Its Hapag-Lloyd division, which offers luxury and expedition cruises, was on the brink of breaking even in its next fiscal year, it said.
Moreover, the company said it would complete a merger with its UK-based subsidiary TUI Travel on Dec. 17, with a name of the new group to be announced next week.
The merged entities will become the world's biggest tourism group with about 74,000 employees and a turnover of 18.7 billion euros. CEO Joussen said the new group was targeting a core profit of 1 billion euros for the 2014/2015 fiscal year.
He also said he was proposing a dividend of 0.33 euros per share to the company's board, up from 0.15 euros paid out last year.
uhe/hg (Reuters, dpa, TUI)