The owner of Thomson Holidays has released annual figures overshadowed by an emotional statement on the human cost of terror attacks in Tunisia and Egypt.
“We were greatly distressed and saddened by the killings and severe injuries suffered by defenceless customers on the beach,” Tui AG said. Of the 38 people killed in the attack in Sousse, Tunisia, 33 had bought their holidays from Tui.
The joint chief executives, Peter Long and Friedrich Joussen, reserved special mention for staff who “saved lives and did everything in their power to support, comfort and provide solace to our customers”.
The Tunisia attack cost the company €52m (£38m), Tui said, and it expected profits also to be affected by the presumed bombing of a Russian airliner over Egypt.
Tui previously forecast profit growth of up to 15% but said the cancellation of flights into Egypt’s Sharm el-Sheikh would mean growth was no more than 10%.
The sombre tone overshadowed strong annual results for the first year since the UK’s Tui Travel merged with its German sister company, Tui AG. Despite the impact of terrorism, pre-tax profit leapt 37% to €885m on sales that were 8% higher at €20bn.
Investors were handed a 70% increase in their dividend to 56 cents per share, helping shares rise nearly 5% by midday.
The company said the result “demonstrates the resilience of our business model, against the backdrop of the tragic events in Tunisia in June 2015 and geopolitical turbulence in some of our other destinations”.
The UK proved a bright spot, with winter bookings 4% higher and summer 2016 reservations up 11%.
The firm’s two major UK brands, Thomson Holidays and First Choice, are being phased out as it unifies the company under the Tui “Smile” logo. Savings from the marriage of its German and UK companies are expected to reach €50m a year by the end of 2016-17, €5m above initial expectations.
The business said it could make a further €20m in savings.
