Thomas Cook: shares sink after another profit warning

(CercleFinance.com) - Thomas Cook said 2018 profit would be lower than expected after the summer heatwave hurt its business, and its shares collapsed over 24% this morning.


Underlying EBIT for the full-year ended 30 September 2018 came in at 250 million pounds, 58 million pounds lower than a year ago on a like-for-like basis.

This is around 30 million pounds below the previous guidance, the company said.

In a statement, CEO Peter Fankhauser said 2018 has been a "disappointing year."

"After a good start to the year, we experienced a larger-than-anticipated decline in gross margin following the prolonged period of hot weather in our key summer trading period," he noted.

Looking ahead, Fankhauser said that the group must learn lessons from 2018 and focus on addressing performance at its UK tour operator business.

The company must also continue streamlining its cost base and manage capacity to give greater operational flexibility and financial discipline, he said.

London-listed Thomas Cook shares plunged by up to 24.8% to 36.5 pence at one point after this warning.

The British tour operator already warned in September that "weak trading" would hurt its full-year profit.

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