TUI Group has posted a group loss of €83.5m ($89.32m) for the first quarter (Q1) of the fiscal year (FY) 2024, versus a loss of €231.8m in Q1 FY 2023.
During the October to December 2023 quarter, TUI logged a positive shift in earnings before income taxes, which totalled -€103.1m, compared with -€272.6m in the prior year.
The German travel and tourism group’s revenue increased 15% to €4.3bn in Q1 FY 2024 from €3.7bn in the same quarter of the previous year.
TUI attributes this increase in revenue to a high willingness of people to travel as well as higher prices and rates.
It was also due to a strong operating performance, which led to a positive underlying earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) of €6m for the first time in a typically negative seasonal quarter.
The underlying group EBIT in Q1 FY23 was -€153m.
TUI's gross profit also saw a substantial increase, reaching €196.1m in Q1 FY24 from €89.2m in Q1 FY 2023.
The company's customer base grew, with 3.5 million guests travelling with TUI in the reported quarter of 2024, a 6% increase from 3.3 million in the previous year.
The company said it saw a positive booking momentum in Q1 FY24, with an 8% year-on-year (YoY) increase for both the 2023/24 winter season and summer 2024.
TUI recorded a total of 9.4 million bookings for the two seasons combined, up from 8.7 million in the same period a year ago.
The occupancy rate for TUI’s Hotels & Resorts division in the second half of the FY 2024, between October 2023 to March 2024, was one percentage point higher than the previous year, and average daily rates for the period were 12% higher.
TUI has now projected at least 10% YoY revenue growth for the full fiscal 2024, with a minimum expected 25% increase in underlying EBIT.
TUI CEO Sebastian Ebel said: “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% and operating earnings by at least 25%.”
