Thomas Cook to shut 200 shops

Thomas Cook is not commenting on reports it is to shut 200 shops following its business review.

The number of closures have increased significantly from the 75 indicated earlier this year following the merger between Co-Operative Travel and Thomas Cook but is said to be due to the changing UK market.

The operator says full details will be announced when the outcome of its 'strategic review' is made public on November 24.

A spokesman said: "Thomas Cook announced earlier this year that its new UK management team would be announcing the results of the UK review on the 24 November.

"As part of the review the management said it would announce measures to refocus the product strategy in mainstream package holidays, streamline the UK airline, improve yield management and operational excellence and measures to leverage the strong and trusted Thomas Cook
brand.

"We will announce the outcome of all of these areas on Thursday."

The analyst briefing by interim chief executive Sam Weihagen and chief financial officer Paul Hollingworth will follow the company's annual results on Thursday morning.

Weihagen may also order a review of Thomas Cook's brand portfolio.

The Sunday Times reported that he wants to ‘move away from cheap package holidays where profit margins are notoriously thin."

The newspaper also said that the 200 closures and other disposals were to ‘clear the decks' for an incoming chief executive following Manny Fontenla-Novoa's resignation in August.

With permission from Travelmole

Thomas Cook shares collapse as it seeks more cash

Thomas Cook shares have gone into freefall following news that it is in talks with banks to ensure it has enough cash to see it through to the end of the year.

The news that the company was delaying the release of its full year results while discussions with its bankers are ongoing stunned the city and shares immediately plunged more than 50%, wiping out half of the company's value. They have since continued to slide and are currently down 75%.

Cook said there had been a deterioration of trading since October and it needed to ensure it had enough cash in the bank to see it through the winter lull. Seeking to reassure the market, the company stressed that it still expects to report a headline operating profit for the year ended September 30 of £320m, in line with previous guidance, but it has been unable to stop the slide in its share price.

Cook said it is currently not in breach of the terms of any of its loans. It said it wanted to "improve its resilience if trading conditions remain difficult".

Only last month, Thomas Cook arranged a new £100m credit agreement with bankers to help with cashflow, but this morning chief financial officer Paul Hollingworth said it was seeking a further £100m from lenders as a "prudent" measure . If agreed, the loan would push Cook's net debt to close to £1bn.

While trading in the UK has been tough, interim chief executive Sam Weihagen said the most difficult markets were France and Belgium, which are both down 20% year on year. He also revealed that the company's recent Russia acquisition had a slower than expected start to the year.

With permission from Travelmole

I can not get Direct holidays or Thomas Cook website to search for a holiday. I am on Safari can anybody try and see if it is just my computer! Thanks

Hi neavsie ... just tried Thomas Cook on Firefox and Direct Holidays on Internet Explorer. No problems.

David

No it's not just you. People have been complaining on their FB page and forum. TC have been having problems for a while now. It seemed to be mainly BT Infinity and Orange customers. They fixed that at weekend, and then I started having problems and I'm on Sky and Internet Explorer. It's not loading at all for me this afternoon.

What if Thomas Cook do go into liquidation. Ive booked and paid for next summer's flights directly with them on their website. How would we get on for getting our money back? I really thought Thomas Cook was a good bet, after booking the last 2 years with travel companies who have gone bust - one before our departure date and last year when we were actually away. I really can't believe our luck! Also I have booked a single return flight back for my son with Jet2. Would that be covered for a refund?
:-(

It was reported earlier on Sky (spit) news that they owed £980m to the banks. Peanuts, innit?

With management like that, no wonder the bosses get massive bonuses. An old instructor of mine said, "If you're going to go bust, do it with someone elses money!"

Good luck to all who've booked with them.

I think I may well be driving round €urope in the motor next summer - or at least the wealthier parts!

The question is how much would it cost if they did go bust? We know that in the last few years there have been several high profile cases and one reason for the increase of the ATOL charges. There are people still posting on HT waiting over a year to get their money back. The Euro crisis on top does not auger well for anyone - having said that I am booked for Feb (Thomson) to Spain and Oct (Cosmos) to Cyprus.
Like all good members of HT the Credit Card has been used just in case. I am very unsure about booking for May - the alternative to Crete or Canaries being Scarborough.

fwh

They seem to be saying that it was the impact of the Arab spring (an expression which I hadn't come across before) which has hit bookings to Tunisia and Egypt, popular with French and Russian tourists respectively , but I guess it's a global business so it impacts all over.

Perhaps I shall have to visit Scarborough next year as well.

Doe

I Have had to claim for 3 lots of flights over the last couple of years through companies going bust,this will be the last straw for me, nooo scarborough would be too cold for me,has to be Cormwall

Perhaps I shall have to visit Scarborough next year as well.

My wife thinks it is wonderful and I hate it which is why I take her somewhere nice and warm for her birthday, and that is NOT Scarborough.

Joking apart I guess there are a lot of people who have booked early and are worrying now. Just hope it sorts itself out for them.

fwh

dont want all you lot coming to scarborough we have enough visitors as it is.......

signed johndoe . selfish of scarborough.

TC has been my preferred choice of tour operator for a number of years. We've had a package holiday with them for the last goodness knows how many summers. We'd normally have booked next summer's holiday with them by now but instead, we've booked diy with Easyjet and direct with the hotel as the TOs weren't featuring the accomodation we wanted. This is the first time we've booked diy for our summer 2 weeks away. I'm resting much easier now that I haven't got to keep a beady eye on what's happening with Thomas Cook.

TC has been my preferred choice of tour operator for a number of years. We've had a package holiday with them for the last goodness knows how many summers. We'd normally have booked next summer's holiday with them by now but instead, we've booked diy with Easyjet and direct with the hotel as the TOs weren't featuring the accomodation we wanted. This is the first time we've booked diy for our summer 2 weeks away. I'm resting much easier now that I haven't got to keep a beady eye on what's happening with Thomas Cook.

We have also booked DIY for next Summer for the first time in ages as we are staying in a luxury villa......but unfortunately we have used Thos. Cook for the flight element because they were much cheaper from Cardiff than Thomson for Rhodes flights!! Now sweating ....worried that at best they might "rationalise" flights ...at worse ..well who knows

I haven't booked a package holiday for years but often use TC for flights as they are the only airline which goes to Tunisia from Stansted during the winter months. I'm already looking for next April and their prices have once again gone up, but I'll definitely hang on for another few months and see what happens.

Cook seeks to reassure customers

Thomas Cook is facing a race against time to restore consumer confidence in the brand ahead of the main booking period for summer 2012 holidays.

There are fears that yesterday's announcement by the travel giant that it is seeking an additional £100m from lenders to see it through the winter will further damage its business at a crucial time of year.

Speaking to the Financial Times, analyst Nick Batram of City broker Peel Hunt said customers might be reluctant to book future holidays with Thomas Cook for fear that it could collapse under its now highly-publicised £900m debt mountain.

"We've seen numerous holiday companies fail over the last few years. If one of the quality players is seen as being in financial trouble, it will make customers think twice about booking," said Batram.

Shares in Thomas Cook plunged 75% yesterday to just 10.2p, although they recovered slightly this morning to trade at around 13p.

Interim chief executive Sam Weihagen has sought to reassure customers that there's no need to panic, insisting that all bookings made through Thomas Cook shops, including flight-only sales, are protected.

Weihagen, who yesterday announced that Cook was delaying the announcement of its end of year results until after the outcome of talks with its major lenders, said he was hopeful Thomas Cook would have additional funding in place by the end of the week.

"We are confident that we will survive," he said. "The company has been around for a long time and we hope to be around for a long time to come."

He said the company still expected to make an underlying profit of £320m for the year.

With permission from Travelmole

Shares in Thomas Cook bounce back:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15851461

City analysts split on Cook woes:
http://www.travelweekly.co.uk/Articles/2011/11/23/38862/city-analysts-split-on-cook-woes.html

David

Interim chief executive Sam Weihagen has sought to reassure customers that there's no need to panic, insisting that all bookings made through Thomas Cook shops, including flight-only sales, are protected.

There appears to be some confusion and contradiction within the media and the travel industry today over whether ATOL protection extends to Thomas Cook flight only sales. The key word in that statement appears to be 'shops', ie flight only bookings made within Thomas Cook shops are financially protected by the ATOL scheme. However, flight only bookings made online or by phone would rely on airline failure insurance or credit card protection.

David

Thanks for clarifying that David. It has helped make up my mind and I will book with BA for April. Even factoring in the cost of getting to the airport it stilll works out cheaper than TC when baggage is taken into account and at least I'll have peace of mind.

We have booked for Cuba on 23rd Jan instead of going to India. Direct Hols (TC) wanted the final payment 10 weeks before departure - which I thought was a bit much so decided to wait until I got my final reminder. Well after yesterday's news I am a bit gob smacked as I knew they were in trouble but this was soooo much more than i thought.... Personally do I think they will go under - no as I think the "powers that be" will do their upmost to stop this happening but you never know.

In any event given yesterday's news I decided to wait until after the weekend to see what was happening as they are seeking re-financing by the end of week. So what do I get from TC today a really unpleasant reminder stating my final payment was way over due - 10 days and that if I did not pay withing 48 hrs they would cancel my holiday and I would be liable for cancellations charges. So great my choices are cancel and loose deposit and a percentage of outstanding balance or pay up and if they go bust I could wait months to get refunded as per ATOL - fantastic choice!!!

I know this is just a "standard" letter (or I presume it is) from them as I have not paid yet BUT given their precarious situation I would have thought an email from them telling me all was good and not to panic would have been appropriate as well. Now I just feel enraged and insulted