BERLIN, Feb. 12 (Xinhua) -- Pre-tax losses of TUI, a large leisure, travel and tourism company, amounted to 83.6 million euros (94.3 million U. S. dollars) in the first quarter of fiscal year 2019 (period between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31, 2018), according to figures published by TUI on Tuesday.
"The overall trends for our sector are intact," reaffirmed Fritz Joussen, CEO of TUI Group, while presenting the Q1 results. "Travel and tourism remain a growth market." Losses incurred by TUI amounted to 36.7 million euros in Q1 last year.
The weak business performance in Q1 2019 was due to the long and hot summer in northern Europe and to strong bookings for Turkey and North Africa, which generated overcapacities in other destinations, such as the Canary Islands, according to TUI.
At the same time, "the continuing weakness of the British pound as a result of the Brexit decision remained evident," TUI said.
Total revenues grew by 4.4 percent to 3.7 billion euros in Q1, while the number of guest who booked their travels at TUI increased by 1.2 percent compared to the same period last year.
Last week, Joussen announced that TUI would not be able to meet its annual growth target of at least 10 percent for the next three years, which had only been set in December. Earnings before interest, taxes and amortization (EBITA) in 2019 is expected to amount to 1.2 billion euros, roughly on a par with the profits registered in the previous year, the company has said. TUI's share prices plummeted shortly afterwards by up to 15 percent. (1 euro = 1.13 U.S. dollars)
