TUI reports 'exceptional booking trends' following Thomas Cook's demise

TUI is enjoying 'exceptional booking trends' following the collapse of rival Thomas Cook in September. It said in January the UK delivered its best bookings volume in the company's history. CEO Fritz Joussen told analysts: "I have never seen summer trading like this. I see double-digit growth across all our markets for this summer."
Shares in the group rose nearly 12% in early trading today.
Releasing its first quarter results for 2020, it said customer numbers in the UK have risen 3% following Thomas Cook's demise. "Post the insolvency of a key competitor, we have seen a clear uplift in bookings in the first quarter as many customers turned to TUI to rebook their holidays, particularly in the UK," it said. "We have subsequently added new capacity to both our winter 2019/20 and summer 2020 programme to accommodate the increased volume."
But the grounding of the Boeing MAX 737 cost the group €45 million in the three months to December. TUI had previously set its profit forecast based on the MAX coming back into action by the end of April. But with Boeing now pushing back the re-introduction date, TUI has now been forced to secure replacement aircraft for the whole of the 2020 financial year. However, it has managed to narrow the range of additional cost for a full FY20 grounding of the 737 Max from around €220m to €270m to around €220m to €245m. Based on this, TUI has updated its guidance range and now expects an underlying EBIT range of €850 million to €1,050 million.