TUI’s shares rise 11 percent following good forecast for 2003

The share portfolio of Germany-based tour operator TUI, the world’s leading firm in the sector, was up 11 percent Monday at the Frankfort Stock Exchange after the company revealed its reserves are making a comeback and the German giant will close 2003 in the black. TUI’s shares grew 11.2 percent and closed at 12.3 euros apiece.

In an interview published Monday in German newspaper Die Welt, TUI president Michael Frenzel made sure the company’s reserves are rebounding heftily since the end of the war in Iraq. “In some weeks, they’ve even been in double digits,” Mr. Frenzel indicated.

In the same breath, Mr. Frenzel showed confidence his company will wrap up 2003 with good numbers despite remaining in the red for most of the year’s first quarter. The news came down the pike as music to the ears of tourism authorities in other parts of the world.

In the first quarter of 2003, TUI sustained losses of $96 million euros ($112 million) as a result of the war in Iraq.