WATCH THIS QUARTER

I've given up trying to work out what is going on with this company. As far as I was aware on 1 April (significance in this date I wonder?) the 10p ordinary shares (MT.) and the 1p A shares (MT.S) were to be combined into a single class of A share.

So why can you still trade both? And why a price difference (6% difference in buy price between the two stocks).

And then there's the 30:1 consolidation coming up (with the inevitable drop in sp, imho).

But I wouldnt say that it was going to the dogs - unless they are exploiting new avenues in the leisure industry - day trips to the greyhound track?

First Choice trims winter losses
MoneyAM 14/06/05
First Choice Holidays has cut underlying first-half losses by 15%, beating expectations.

The UK holiday group said forward bookings were strong with little sign it was being hurt by a downturn in consumer spending.

First Choice posted a loss before tax, goodwill amortisation and exceptional items of 34.1m in the six months to April 30th, down from 39.9m in the prior year, on sales up 16.9% to 915m.

On that basis financial analysts had expected the company, which traditionally reports a loss during the quieter first half spanning the British winter, to deliver a 36m loss.

'This is the third consecutive year that we have significantly reduced winter losses,' CEO, Peter Long, said in a statement.

'We believe that the annual holiday remains an extremely important purchase for our customers which, when combined with the flexible business model we have built, and a market in which supply and demand looks to be better balanced than has historically been the case, gives us confidence that we will meet our expectations this year,' he added.

First Choice said bookings of mainstream holidays for the coming summer, as a percentage of the total number of holidays on offer, were up five points on the previous year, with customer numbers up 11%.

Total sales in the sector rose 21% as the company experienced particularly strong growth in higher-cost holidays.

First Choice has been attempting to drive sales of higher margin all-inclusive holidays, while simultaneously cutting back on short-haul flight-only business.

Specialist holiday bookings rose 33%.

The company is proposing a 1.95p interim dividend, up 11%.

Net losses fell to 43m from 46.3m, while diluted losses per share fell 7.8% to 8.3p.