While tourism remains weakened by the crisis, TUI AG is doing rather well. The German group published its results on Tuesday nine months, from January 1 to September 30. Boosted by gains from the sale of 43.3% owner of Hapag-Lloyd AG, net income was multiplied by ten. It stood at 401 million euros, against 45 million euros over the first nine months of 2008.
These figures will serve as the annual results for the year 2009. TUI rose on a year shifted from October 2009. "This positive development shows clearly that our tourism business is fundamentally healthy and that over time," said Michael Frenzel, CEO of the group, in a statement. The turnover, now entirely generated by tourism, but has slipped to 14% on a year to 13.1 billion euros.Subsidiaries TUI Travel (tours), TUI Hotels & Resorts (hotels and clubs) and TUI Cruises (cruises) have seen their business drop by 14%, 5% and 9% respectively. The weakness of the pound has also weighed.
Despite the difficult environment, operating income was up 5% to 696 million euros over the year amputated in 2009. And its evolution should remain "stable" for the current year, the statement said. Michael Frenzel is optimistic. The turnover and profits should start rising from 2010/2011, "if the economy recovers as expected.