Thomas cook shares up 30%...

[pythagoras]

Anyone know why? Such a sudden jump but I can't find any news on them..

cheers

[LGS6753]

There's a broker's buy recommendation, target price 30p.

[racedo]

Given the shareprice is now about 8% of what it was 1 year ago then any rise in price may be down to very low volumes or a little bit of news that people punt to sell off some shares.

I would always be careful of watching one days trading as it may be a poor guide to reality.

[pythagoras]

Good point. I don't think Ive ever seen shares jump 30% without some news from somewhere though. Seen some speculation of insider trading and a new CEO on the cards..... Wait and see I guess. Having bought at 13p its gonna be exciting to decide when to bail....

[airsmiles]

There's nothing on the Thomas Cook website about the new CEO though, which is odd.

If they survive the winter I would have though the capacity scaleback and asset sales may allow them to continue. I wonder if a competitor/vulture capitalist may seize an investment opportunity while the share in low though. That would improve the share price in the short-term but is not necessarily good for Thomas Cook in the long-term.

Whatever, I hope them pull through.

[janeyTA]

There's nothing on the Thomas Cook website about the new CEO though, which is odd.

I didn't think they'd appointed one yet.

[deepknight]

The jump came following a report from an analyst who pointed out the present shareprice was weighted for TC not being able to achieve the planned turnaround, and in his view the recovery was already underway. He pointed out that the banks have been suportive and a new CEO is expected to be announced before the end of March. (This already confirmed by TC) No doubt he had also seen the the present state of trading: UK down 9% on capacity cuts of 11%, so in reality 2% ahead of plan, and with margins up. In fact, TC is slightly better forward sold that Thompson for the summer. In addition, the financial deal with with the banks runs until Spring 2013, to cover next winter's low point. Given that the disposal programme is well underway and the stories of a slump in bookings have been nailed as a lie, can we perhaps move on from the "if they survive the winter" talk?

[rumair999]

Well said deepknight, I posted before they were never going anywhere and this is still the case.
The winter is nearly over and hopefully the silly comments regarding TC are as well.

[waco]

Will Thomas Cook survive ?

Absolutely, they are operating profitably in Germany and Scandanavia.

Are they operating successfully in the UK? No and the market in which they operate will continue to decline.

Will they remain operting in the Uk, probably but their UK opertion will most probably decline still further and substantally.

But they still have to refinance an astronomical debt and with Europe still on the precipsie of a possible meltdown they are not in a good position.

[SENFLYER]

I agree TCX will survive but I can see them ceasing their UK operation.

I think TCX have lost direction in the UK, most consumers now are looking for
high quality at a reasonable price. TCX seem to have lost the quality and service in favour of offering bargain basement prices. They were cheaper for my holiday but I booked with the competitor because they offered a higher quality product. Hopefully the new CEO will bring about a change in fortune.