Thomas Cook Flying High as Sales Soar

German travel icon Thomas Cook has seen its nine-month operating loss narrow by more than two-thirds, and said it was looking forward to "substantial" full-year profits on the back of a restructuring program.

Losses before interest, tax and amortization shrank to about £24.9 million in the nine months to the end of July from a deficit of some £81 million a year earlier.

Sales at Europe´s second-largest tourism firm, owned jointly by airline Deutsche Lufthansa and German retailer KarstadtQuelle, edged up 1.5 per cent to £3.3 billion.

The company said high air fuel prices were only partially offset by its cost-cutting efforts.

However, Cook expected for the first time in four years to report what it said would be a "substantial" profit at the end of its current financial year, both before and after taxes, on the back of its restructuring program with cuts in jobs and operating costs.

Looking ahead, the firm is set to grow without any acquisitions planned over the next two years and instead will focus on tapping the market for individual travellers, increasing seat-only business at its airlines and improving its virtual services, said chief executive Wolfgang Beeser.

“We need to promote ourselves as competent suppliers of leisure travel for existing and new customers alike,” he added.