TUI Travel Pleased it Just Lost $83 Million in First Quarter

Tour conglomerate TUI Travel PLC reported a first-quarter loss of about $83.3 million, compared with a first-quarter loss of $231.4 million a year ago. TUI said that the integration of Thomson Holidays and First Choice was progressing well.

“We are very pleased with our performance during Q1, our first as a fully merged business,” said Peter Long, CEO of TUI Travel. “We have significantly fewer holidays to sell than at this point last year in our key source markets.”

Revenue for the first quarter increased 5 percent, to about $5 billion, compared with about $4.8 billion a year ago. TUI Travel said the result was achieved through a combination of strong organic growth and the acquisition of Starquest Expeditions in September 2007.

TUI Travel reported strong performance from its North America experiential division, which reported an operating profit of about $5.2 million, compared with an operating loss of about $1 million for the first quarter of 2007.

TCS Expeditions also delivered strong growth in the quarter, with a 94 percent increase in revenue year over year. TUI Travel said that TCS Expedition’s winter program was sold out before the start of the season.