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

'We're back' says Thomas Cook chief


01 May 2013 at 08.00 GMT


The head of Thomas Cook UK declared the group’s intention to be the most-profitable travel firm in Britain yesterday, saying Cook is firmly back in the UK market.

Thomas Cook chief executive for the UK and Continental Europe Peter Fankhauser said: “Believe me we’re back.

He insisted: “We will stay the biggest travel retailer in the UK.”

Giving a presentation on the group’s turnaround in the UK and its summer 2014 programme, Fankhauser said: “In three years we want to be the most profitable brand in the UK and the most loved.”

Fankhauser cited recent Travel Weekly research, carried out by Explore, and argued: “This tells us 42% of adults expect to interact with Thomas Cook this year.

“That gives us confidence our brand strength is intact.”

He described the turnaround at the UK group which he said began at the top “like cleaning the stairs”.

“We start with a competitive structure. We are reducing our workforce from 15,500 to 13,000 – that is a lot and it has to be carefully done – and we will close 195 shops which are not profitable.

“These are massive steps, but it is not all about cost. It is about product.

“We have improved the product mix, introducing more all-inclusive and more exclusive product, more flexibility and more dynamic packaging.”

Fankhauser said: “We are going to significantly improve our flight offer with more flights, better connectivity and one group airline, including a codeshare with [Thomas Cook’s German carrier] Condor.”

The group will expand its exclusive international hotel brands Sentido and Sunprime and introduce a third, Smartline - “a good property for a good price”.

Fankhauser said: “We are tidying up the myth that Britons only like to holiday where there are Britons and Germans where there are Germans.”

He said research among 18,000 Thomas Cook clients in the group’s major markets found “perhaps 10% of clients where this is true - the rest like international products”.

Fankhauser said: “We will have a big focus on web capability in the UK.” But referring to the high street, he said: “We are going to stay the biggest travel retailer in the UK.”

He added: “We are going to do all this fast - most of the work on a new competitive structure is already done.”

Fankhauser would not comment on UK sales for this summer ahead of a group trading update, but he said: “We are totally happy and relaxed about this summer.”

02 May Thomas Cook Group... TCG Credit Suisse Outperform 132.00 132.00 146.00 146.00 Retains

Thomas Cook Group has finalised the sale of its Canadian and US businesses to Red Label Vacation.

The £3.4 million deal was announced in March and was completed today.

Thomas Cook North America operates a tour operator and distribution network and has headquarters in Toronto.

Its brands include tour operator Sunquest, Italy specialist Alba Tours and MyTravel retail which consists of 60 travel agencies.

The proceeds will be used to reduce the debt of the Thomas Cook Group.

From travelweekly

Long again.

Welcome aboard gf. The next trading update should make good reading - due anytime this month.

Well thankyou doodles. Got you all wrong your a really nice chap.

IG Index say ..........Interim 2012/2013 THOMAS COOK GROUP PLC Earnings Release 27/05/2013

Share Prophets ‏@ShareProphets 4m
Just posted: Buy Thomas Cook (TCG): 160p Now Possible £TCG

http://www.shareprophets.com/221

DirectorsTalk ‏@DirectorsTalk 8m
Buy Thomas Cook (TCG): 160p Now Possible - http://goo.gl/hLM6i

gf, if IG Index say 27th May for the TCG interims - isn't that a Bank Holiday?

Just checking again doodles.

Yep says may 27. That a bank holiday?, sorry on lap top fishing. Havent got any diary or calendar here.

Nothing on their own website.

Nothing on investigete either not that I can find it.

Perhaphs IG have got it wrong if it is a bank holiday.

When did they report last year?.

TBC May, 2013 (From Thomas C's own web site)

31 May 2012

9 May 2011

Got to assume then DC and lads it around the month end.

Opinion: What did the Belgians ever do for Thomas Cook?


10 May 2013 at 08.16 GMT

The travel industry is full of famous names, dating back as far as 1841 when Thomas Cook founded his company.

Think of the icons of the 80s and 90s such as Harry Goodman, David Crossland, Sir Richard Branson, Sir Adam Thomson (a personal favourite of mine) Lord King and Lord Marshall.

And today we have Michael O’Leary, Carolyn McCall, Willie Walsh, Peter Long and Harriet Green, but there is one name that isn’t so well know but probably should be.

We all know the pub quiz question – can you name five famous Belgians?

Well, we probably can get Audrey Hepburn and maybe Plastic Bertrand (if you grew up in the 80s), perhaps Jean Claude Van Damme and, if you enjoy tennis, Kim Clijsters, but after that we tend to cheat and say Tintin or Hercule Poirot.

But I think it’s time the travel industry and the City really recognised the success of a Belgian heavily involved in the UK travel industry who deserves to be on both lists but I suspect is too modest to be concerned and much more worried about ensuring his work is completed (which I am sure it will be).

That person is Frank Meysman, the chairman of Thomas Cook, who in truth has saved the company from collapse, rebuilt it and put in place many of the people who now get the credit.

Thomas Cook is the best brand in the travel industry and a true global brand, and today it is re-emerging in a way I believe the original founder would have supported.

Back in July 1841 Thomas Cook took 500 passengers from Leicester to Loughbrough, but his first continental tour in 1855 left Harwich and landed in - yes, you guessed it - Antwerp in Belgium.

Today Belgium has quietly come to Thomas Cook and we should all be grateful even if we don’t remember his name next time we are asked for famous Belgians in the pub.

Perhaps the City will soon also show its appreciation by supporting the rumoured £400 million rights issue which will put Thomas Cook back in first class shape.

And if that amount is raised it really is all credit to Frank – I suggested at the start of the year that maybe £100 million or possibly £200 million could be raised, so this would be a major thumbs up.

I also thought the share price would perform well, but in the first four months of 2013 it has risen a staggering 185% - better than even I had predicted.

It would also, I suspect, be the front runner if successful for other equity raises in the sector as share prices have remained remarkably strong; EasyJet is up 47%, IAG is up 52%.

It probably doesn’t feel like this, but the laggard in the sector is Tui which is only up 15%. Even my friend Roger Allard has seen his share price at All Leisure rally 68% this year.

The industry is in very good health, and so my advice is that when the ducks are quacking, feed them. Right now they are quacking, so I would be raising some new money and investing in new growth.

And I’d look east, as that is where the future is – but you need to look further east than Belgium into Asia this time.


travelweekly

Anna Mikhailova Published: 12 May 2013
PROFESSIONAL investors are tipping the air travel industry to deliver strong returns in the coming decades, fuelled by huge rises in demand from emerging markets.

Global passenger traffic grew 5.9% in the 12 months to the end of March, with long-haul travel increasing even more than domestic, according to the International Air Transport Association (Iata). Emerging markets led the way, with flights from the Middle East, Latin America and Africa up by 15.6%, 11.8% and 8.2% respectively.

Iata expects air travel growth to continue at 5% on average for the next 20 years.

Sunday Times

difficult to determine whether TT or TCG is a better investment at current levels .... both have their appeal, but while TCG has outperformed TT astronomically, TCG was of course starting from a very low base

indeed, the 5-year chart below (TT is blue; TCG is red) would imply TCG still has greater near-term upside, but input from others would be useful

I think both are good investments at the moment, cynic. The weather is predicted to be pretty awful for at least another month, perhaps longer and if we have another Summer like last year it can only be good for the travel industry - and dreadful for businesses like Wyevale.

Interims are out last week of may, so at that point I shall be selling, depending on the figures. Have had a very good run from 96p, but once the figures are out I can't see much happening with the TCG sp until the autumn, so will be investing the profit elsewhere. I am reasonably confident the interims should be good, so that will be my last tilt at TCG for the time being. I wonder if 180p is achievable?