Thomas Cook announce £398m loss; to close 200 stores
14.12.11
Thomas Cook will close 200 of its 1300 UK stores over the next two years as part of its UK business turnaround plan - 125 more than previously announced. News of the closures came as the travel firm reported a £398m loss for the year to the end of September. Staff at 115 of the stores set to close are expected to be informed of their fate today with the loss of 661 jobs.
The world's oldest travel agency has been looking to cut its debts and boost its balance sheet to restore the confidence of investors. In November, it secured £200m of new financing, just days after seeing its shares plunge 75% in one day.
Thomas Cook has blamed the unrest in Egypt and Tunisia and floods in Thailand, all key holiday destinations for the company, for hitting sales. Its results were hit by exceptional charges of £573m, which included write-downs in the value of its UK and Canadian business. Interim chief executive Sam Weihagen said: ‘This has been a very challenging year for the group, despite which we still delivered an underlying operating profit of over £300m.'
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