Results out soon in August.

Broker recos look very bullish and why not on a P/E of just over 6 to 2011.....

Thomas Cook Group PLC

FORECASTS 2010 2011
Date Rec Pre-tax (�) EPS (p) DPS (p) Pre-tax (�) EPS (p) DPS (p)

Panmure Gordon
02-08-10 BUY 319.00 27.10 11.30 338.00 28.70 12.40

Exane BNP Paribas
02-08-10 BUY 116.00 26.62 10.75 319.00 28.87 11.66

Numis Securities Ltd
02-08-10 ADD 324.20 27.60 11.25 357.10 29.90 11.81

Oriel Securities
02-08-10 BUY 330.40 28.40 11.40 363.50 31.30 12.10

KBC Peel Hunt Ltd
30-07-10 BUY 301.06 25.22 10.75 313.36 26.23 10.93

WestLB
30-07-10 SELL 28.81 11.52 29.91 11.96

Shore Capital
30-07-10 HOLD 312.00 26.50 11.80 347.00 29.50 13.00

Charles Stanley Securities
15-06-10 HOLD

Evolution Securities Ltd
11-02-10 None

Investec Securities [R]
09-02-10 BUY 327.00 27.30 11.74 352.23 29.39 12.49

Fyshe Horton Finney Ltd
25-01-10 BUY

Collins Stewart
24-12-09 BUY

Nomura Research Institute
25-09-09 RED

2010 2011
Pre-tax (�) EPS (p) DPS (p) Pre-tax (�) EPS (p) DPS (p)

Consensus 316.42 26.98 11.36 342.50 29.39 11.96

1 Month Change 1.07 -0.22 0.01 3.43 -0.14 -0.14
3 Month Change -11.92 -1.09 -0.05 -11.79 -1.00 -0.44


GROWTH
2009 (A) 2010 (E) 2011 (E)

Norm. EPS 2.76% 0.38% 8.92%
DPS 14.03% 10.80% 5.26%

INVESTMENT RATIOS
2009 (A) 2010 (E) 2011 (E)

EBITDA �574.90m �589.69m �613.90m
EBIT �372.50m �420.55m �447.05m
Dividend Yield 5.38% 5.96% 6.27%
Dividend Cover 2.62x 2.38x 2.46x
PER 7.10x 7.07x 6.49x
PEG 2.57f 18.55f 0.73f
Net Asset Value PS -240.80p 224.47p 240.43p

Happy to hold for the moment and will try and get out at c130p next week. Think I may be pushing my luck to try for more than that!
I see that pivot points are 2nd Resistance Point 138.393, 1st Resistance Point 130.947

I've had a similar target to that in my mind for a while HARRYCAT. I think, historically, shares in travel companys don't tend to do too well in the latter part of the year, but Harriet does seem to be enjoying an extended honeymoon with the city and market sentiment, so I may review my target. The next statement isn't due until May, so the SP might drift a bit after next week.

Cynic it hasnt been updated for 2 weeks because the technical department havent sorted out the oscilator ADX. SEE CHART BELOW.

I have made 3 requests now to Ian on the Bugs thread for this to be done and informed each time the details had been passed on to the tech department.

Result nothing done.

Instead of complaining here use your energy to support me and post on the bugs thread what you have posted here.

Harry everyone else please feel free to also ask for the repair to be made.

Chart thread is fine leave it as it is gf.

As cynic says he don't read it anyway now why worry about it. Rest of us seem to have a few seconds to spare each day in order to let it load.

GF.

The pause is a little irritating, but the information is worth the delay. Compared with loading a page 30 years ago they delay is trivial.

Thanks, once again.

Interview with Harriet Green in the Sunday Telegraph tomorrow for anyone interested.

TravelMole


Saturday 16th March 2013

Green: Creating good holidays, how hard can it be?


When Harriet Green joined Thomas Cook as group chief executive 32 weeks ago (she's counting the days), she found the staff were "shattered, beleaguered, upset" after the company they treasured had, in her own words, "nearly hit the wall".

Green's starting point for finding out what had gone wrong was to ask those who worked there. "It is my belief that people inside a business know what's wrong and what needs fixing," she said. In Thomas Cook's case, they had plenty to say. Some 8,000 of them provided her with "pages and pages" of information.

Now, sadly, 2,500 of those staff are facing redundancy because, among other problems, Green quickly identified that Cook had too many shops, too many offices spread across the country, and too many conflicting brands.

Coming into a company and getting rid of 15% of its workforce would be a painful decision for anyone, but Green gives the impression that while she isn't exactly ruthless, she is efficient. In just 32 weeks she has brought about more than 70 significant changes to the business.

Green insists she is committed to maintaining a strong retail network, although in the future the shops will be "more Apple than travel". She insists the Thomas Cook brand will grow, she repeatedly states that it "won't shrink to greatness", but to do that she's prepared to chop away the excess.

"Of the 195 shops that are under review, 48% are within a kilometre of another Thomas Cook," said Green. Turning to the brands, she said many were duplicating, competing or not adding value to the business. Several are already up for sale, but she refused to say which. "We are going through a simplification process," she said.

She appears in a hurry to get on with it, reluctant to waste even a second. When she arrives promptly for her first press meeting since unveiling Thomas Cook's turnaround plan this week and finds a few of the journalists have yet to arrive, she darts off and returns 10 minutes later when everyone is gathered. She ends the meeting bang on time, answering the last couple of questions while walking out of the door, off to another meeting.

She has bags of nervous energy, her stiletto heel constantly jigging as she talks. She says the realisation that Thomas Cook's OTA had to stop competing with the rest of the business came to her in week six of the job, "while I was running along the Canal". "I am the sort of woman who has stretch goals on my fridge," she adds.

Green acknowledges that her appointment was a surprise for some, simply because she was an outsider, she'd never previously worked in travel having spent most of her working life in electronics. "People were amazed I'd never been a rep, that I couldn't quote all the codes for all the major airports around the world," she jokes, but she admits she thought the reaction was odd. "I have lived and worked in four continents."

Some might have thought her lack of travel industry experience a weakness, but she clearly doesn't. Rather, she thinks that her predecessors at Thomas Cook over-complicated things. "This is not the French nuclear industry, it's not a complex business," she said, "how difficult can it be to put together good holidays?"

Green has, however, shrewdly assembled a management team with bags of relevant experience. Her right-hand man, the new UK and Ireland CEO Peter Fankhauser has travel industry form, having previously served as CEO of Thomas Cook in Continental Europe.
Also, she points out that she has a background in transforming business via the web, and she has brought in digital entrepreneur John Straw to develop an internet strategy for Thomas Cook.

Already the company is testing five or six apps for tablets and smartphones, she said, as part of the group's aim to increase its online sales from a third to half of all bookings. Developing an omni-channel distribution strategy will be one of the keys to success, says Green.

When she joined Thomas Cook, it was described by one financial journalist as "a basket case", so what made Green, a successful CEO in the electronics industry, want to take it on? "I could say because I thought that was bollocks," she quips. Her first holiday was with Thomas Cook and she believes it is a quality, affordable brand, but she didn't take the job for sentimental reasons. Green said she saw that the company had a robust 22% gross margin, which wasn't translating into operating profits. She realised that if she could strip away layers of costs, she could increase the profit. "I thought that was eminently doable."


By Linsey McNeill

The moral of the story is:- don't mess with a determined woman! Good luck all.

Morgan Stanley bumps up target price for Thomas Cook
Thomas Cook (TCG.L)'s new growth strategy should see earnings hit at least £400 million by 2015, according to Morgan Stanley analyst Jamie Rollo, who has increased his target price on the shares from 100p to 150p.

Wednesday's update on the turnaround strategy said the group will focus on 'personalised holiday experiences through a high-tech, high-touch approach'. It also said another £50 million of cost savings have been identified, on top of the £300 million already in train.

Rollo said the update provided enough information for a new earnings forecast. 'Taking 2012 adjusted earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) of £120 million, £290 million of remaining cost out (covering the 5% UK margin target and +150 basis points to group gross margin), reversal of 2012’s £52 million losses from France/Canada/Russia, £30 million EBIT from new product, and allowing for expectation of further cost cuts, it seems like the company thinks £500 million EBIT is achievable. We raise our 2015 estimate from £300 million to £400 million.'

Another loss making part of the business gone.


RNS Number : 4880A

Thomas Cook Group PLC

20 March 2013

20 March 2013

Thomas Cook Group plc

Thomas Cook announces sale of North American business

Thomas Cook Group plc announces today that it has agreed to sell Thomas Cook Canada Inc. and Thomas Cook USA Holdings, Inc., together known as Thomas Cook North America ("TCNA"), to Red Label Vacations Inc. (which trades as Redtag.ca "Red Tag"). The transaction is for cash consideration of $5.3 million Canadian dollars (GBP3.4 million at current exchange rates).

TCNA operates a tour operator and distribution network in Canada. TCNA also owns ABC Corporate Services Inc. and D-FW Travel Arrangements Inc. in the United States.

Completion of the transaction is subject to a number of conditions, including clearance by the Competition Bureau of Canada, the release of guarantees provided by Thomas Cook Group plc to third parties on behalf of TCNA and the release of guarantees provided by TCNA in support of the Group's financing arrangements. The transaction is expected to complete by 31 May 2013. Proceeds will be used to reduce the borrowings of the Thomas Cook Group.

Harriet Green, Chief Executive, Thomas Cook Group plc said:

"As we continue to drive the transformation of the Thomas Cook Group I am pleased to have reached agreement to divest our North American business, enabling us to focus on our core segments and future growth. The combination of TCNA's product portfolio and Red Tag's online presence form an attractive proposition for Canadian customers and we wish the team every success in the future".

Enquiries:

Investors & analysts:

Geoffrey Pelham-Lane, Group Head of Investor Relations

+44 20 7557 6414

Media:

Jenny Peters, Group Head of Communications

+44 7568 105144
Andrew Lorenz, FTI Consulting
+44 7775 641 807


Note to editors:

1. GBP0.2m of the cash consideration is payable on completion. The balance of GBP3.2m is payable in three equal instalments no later than 30 June, 30 September and 31 December 2013.

2. As at 30 September 2012, TCNA had gross assets of GBP169.3 million.

3. For the year ended 30 September 2012, TCNA recorded a loss before tax of GBP86.7 million.

4. The local management team at TCNA is led by Dean Moore who will lead the business under its new ownership.

5. As at 30 September 2012, TCNA had GBP40m of restricted cash, comprising customer advances which are held in a segregated bank account for regulatory purposes. This cash will be sold as part of the transaction.

6. The Group expects the transaction to be earnings accretive in the current financial year.

About Thomas Cook Group plc

Thomas Cook Group plc is one of the world's leading leisure travel groups with sales of GBP9.5 billion and 23 million customers in the year ended 30 September 2012. It is number one or two in all its core markets. After the completion of the transaction to divest Thomas Cook North America, Thomas Cook will operate in 19 countries with 29,000 full time equivalent employees. Thomas Cook Group plc's shares are listed on the London Stock Exchange (TCG).

About Red Tag

Red Tag is a privately owned online travel agent based in Toronto, Canada. Its founders Enzo, Joe and Frank DeMarinis collectively have over 75 years experience in the retail travel market.

This information is provided by RNS

The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

END

profits taken.

Needs a kick up the ass this stock to get it going.

I don't understand that comment gf, the share price was 22p at the end of October!! Are you sure you're on the right thread here?

Yep.

Dont forget it was 123p and RISING just a week or so ago.

Suppose its just frustration and the wallys over the road on the TCG threads that are getting on my ti-s.

Only stock I have had down since xmas this one.

Think itl still turn around but this cyprus thingy is a worry short term.

Warren Buffet said something along the lines that making money out of the stock market was all about "the transfer of wealth from the impatient to the patient". ( I stand to be corrected on the exact wording of that quote .) And the Cyprus scenario is todays news and tomorrows fish and chips paper - after all it's the Russians and the mafia that have most of the money invested in banks in Cyprus.

I thought this was a great comment from onething on another bulletin board re the RNS today;

"If ever you have a need to sell sand to Arabs, or even snow to Eskimos, clearly Harriet is your gal. 86m of loss, and they paid her to take it away! Wonderful."

DB I know all about Warren Buffet and his side kick Charlie Munger having been in this business for 32 years and I do know they last year went into CFDS for shorter term trades. The Warren Buffet story today is a totaly different story from that of 10 to 15 years ago or that portrayed by longer term investors.

I dont trade the company TCG nor do I trade any other company, I actually trade the companys stock and as such shorter time frame periods to me are more important than the day to day runing of the company as per the investors profile.

As such 'Opportunity Cost' plays a big part in my personal trading profile.

Ive gone both long short long again and will probably be short at some time again in the future.

Dont forget ive been in here at temporary tops and bottoms as the stock as ranged and trended since I started the thread in 2010.

cheers GF.

Each to his own gf. If you have been down on this stock since Xmas I would think you must have been getting something wrong. It's not easy to short stocks in a bull market and I noticed that Sothic Capital reduced their short position in TCG twice last week.

No I havent been short of the stock since late sept when it hit the 200 MA and fell although the trade was a dud and I reversed.

Like you say we have differing time periods and goals.

One of Warren Buffets other favourite sayings is 'never fall in love with a stock', and Im pretty good with that not having any emotional attachment to any stock, call me callous, hard, insensitive, whatever but it works for me and Ive been rewarded handsomely.

For the time being Im on the bull side and I wish you and everyone good luck.

Looks like we got that kick up the ass a lot faster than I thought. NICE see this mornings RSN.

Partial cancellation of liquidity facility
Thomas Cook Group plc (the "Group") confirms that in accordance with the "cash sweep" provisions of its bank facility agreement £100 million of the liquidity facility provided pursuant to the facility agreement has been cancelled. As a result, an additional fee of up to 2 per cent of the total facilities outstanding, amounting to approximately £26 million, will not be payable.