February 13, 2024
TUI Group: Group revenue up 15 per cent to 4.3 billion euros in Q1 2024
Corporate
The TUI Group has started the new financial year with a strong operating performance. 3.5 million guests travelled on vacation with TUI in Q1 2024 (October to December 2023), driving a 15 percent increase in Group revenue to 4.3 billion euros (Q1 2023: 3.8 billion euros). For the first time1, underlying EBIT was positive at six million euros in this quarter, which is normally negative due to seasonal factors. In a persistently challenging market environment, TUI benefited from the sustained demand for travel with higher prices and rates. TUI CEO Sebastian Ebel: "We remain on course, transforming the Group and growing. The measures we have introduced are taking effect. We are accelerating our transformation quarter by quarter. Operational excellence, agile and flexible actioning and the consistent implementation of our programs are important. In addition, people's willingness to travel is still high, despite a market environment that remains challenging. We are thus creating the basis for TUI's future profitable growth. And it confirms our expectations for the year as a whole: We want to increase revenue by at least 10 percent and operating earnings by at least 25 percent."
3.5 million guests travelled with TUI in the first quarter of the financial year 2024 – that is six percent or 200,000 more than in the previous year (3.3 million). At 87 per cent, the load factor was one percentage point higher than in the previous year. Due to people's high willingness to travel as well as higher prices and rates, the underlying operating result improved by 159 million euros and was positive for the first time at six million euros (previous year: -153 million euros). The first two quarters of the financial year (October to March) are usually negative for the industry due to seasonal factors. Revenue also improved significantly, increasing by 15 per cent to 4.3 billion euros (previous year: 3.8 billion euros).
With a current year-on-year increase in bookings of 8 per cent for the 2023/24 Winter season and an increase of 8 per cent for summer 2024, the positive booking momentum2 continues. TUI has currently recorded a total of 9.4 million bookings for Winter 2023/24 and Summer 2024 combined (previous year: 8.7 million).
Average prices for winter 2023/24 are currently 4 per cent above the previous year's level. Short and medium-haul destinations continue to drive bookings, with the Canary Islands, Egypt and Cape Verde once again proving to be popular destinations. Average prices for the upcoming Summer 2024 are 4 per cent higher than in the previous year. Demand for all key medium and short-haul destinations is currently up on the previous year, with Spain, Greece and Turkey once again the most popular destinations for TUI guests for Summer 2024.
Strong operational growth and the successful implementation of our strategic measures, form the basis for future profitable growth. The outlook for the financial year 2024 is based on the current macroeconomic challenges and geopolitical uncertainties, particularly in the Middle East. Nevertheless, the operating performance in Q1 2024, the current positive booking momentum and the return to normal hedging lines underline the expectations for the full year. TUI therefore confirms its forecast for financial year 2024:
TUI has a clear strategy and has created the basis for future profitable growth. With more products and a broader offering, the aim is to increase the so-called "customer lifetime value" of customers and also to acquire new customers.
In the medium term, TUI aims to:
As part of today's Annual General Meeting of TUI AG in Hanover, shareholders will decide on whether the Group's listing on the London Stock Exchange should be discontinued. Previously, TUI investors had suggested that the company should give up its current dual listing and seek a simplified listing and inclusion in the MDAX in Frankfurt. In recent years, most of the liquidity of the TUI share has shifted to Germany. Around 77 per cent of share transactions are settled directly via the German share register and less than a quarter of trading in TUI shares is in the form of UK depositary interests. The termination of the listing in London would offer understandable advantages for investors and the company: Simplification of structures, improvement in liquidity and indexation, and support for EU airline ownership. TUI's Executive Board and Supervisory Board have followed the investors' suggestions and, after extensive discussions and intensive analysis, recommend that shareholders approve the proposed resolution at today's Annual General Meeting. A majority of 75 per cent is required for approval.
1 since the merger of TUI AG and TUI Travel plc
2 As at 4 February 2024
The TUI Group is one of the world's leading tourism groups and operates worldwide. The Group is headquartered in Germany. TUI shares are listed in the MDAX index of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and in the regulated market of the Lower Saxony Stock Exchange in Hanover. TUI Group offers its 20 million customers integrated services from a single source and forms the entire tourism value chain under one roof. The Group owns over 400 hotels and resorts with premium brands such as RIU, TUI Blue and Robinson and 17 cruise ships, ranging from the MS Europa and MS Europa 2 in the luxury class and expedition ships in the HANSEATIC class to the Mein Schiff fleet of TUI Cruises and cruise ships operated by Marella Cruises in the UK. The Group also includes Europe's leading tour operator brands and online marketing platforms, for example for hotel-only or flight-only offers, five airlines with more than 130 modern medium- and long-haul aircraft and around 1,200 travel agencies. In addition to expanding its core business with hotels and cruises via successful joint ventures and activities in vacation destinations, TUI is increasingly focusing on the expansion of digital platforms. The Group is transforming itself into a global tourism platform company.
Global responsibility for sustainable economic, environmental and social action is at the heart of our corporate culture. With projects in 25 countries, the TUI Care Foundation initiated by TUI focuses on the positive effects of tourism, on education and training and on strengthening environmental and social standards. In this way, it supports the development of vacation destinations. The globally active TUI Care Foundation initiates projects that create new opportunities for the next generation.
