Agence France-Presse
German tourism giant TUI said Wednesday its losses widened in its first quarter owing to weaker demand for travel to destinations in North Africa as a result of the popular unrest there.
TUI, which runs its business year to September, said it booked a net loss of 87.6 million euros ($115 million) in the three months to December.
In the same period a year earlier, the loss stood at 46.4 million euros.
Underlying earnings also deteriorated, with a loss before interest, tax and amortization widening to 147.3 million euros in the October-December period from 119.6 million euros a year earlier.
At the same time, revenues increased 4.9 percent to 3.45 billion euros.
“The first quarter was very much in line with our expectations,” TUI said.
“The year-earlier numbers were not affected by the unrest in North Africa.”
Looking ahead, TUI said it was sticking to its forecast for a “positive after-tax result, a slight improvement in underlying earnings and a moderate increase in sales.”
“Weaker demand for destinations in North Africa in the first quarter were expected and had been calculated into our planning for the year,” it said.
