[Persnicketty]

Originally Posted by BeastnBeauty

I’ve not had time to look into this, I will when I get home this evening, but I believe that the loss of £1.5b is made up of £1.1b in goodwill, which as we know isn’t actual loss in the typical sense.

So the cash loss is around £400m it just sounds scarier when they say £1.5b.

If anyone wants to read the half year report:
thomascookgroup/pres...ails/102/11087

See more...

The goodwill impairment is definitely a red herring. As you say, it skews the results on a one-off basis due to down-valuing the assets acquired during the MyTravel merger a long time ago.

That is a fiscally responsible thing to do and suggests TC getting their corporate financial house in order ahead of inviting bidders to buy the business or parts of the business, not just the airline but their hotel/tour operator arm too.

And there is no question TC will continue to operate as a brand. I think existing customers have nothing to fear and if they do sell up, new customers will see no difference...still that TC brand name.

Though this recent flap might admittedly impact heavily on fresh bookings for a while. But half a billion in realised profit this year is still very impressive. This is not a failing business.

Their biggest issue is servicing a very real £1bn+ debt, whilst losing ground against Jet2 and other upstart competitors in TC's traditional hunting ground. And of course, the increasing number of folk going DIY. This is hurting TUI too.

But i am convinced there is no need for alarm. A "smaller" TC will remain part of the holiday landscape.