Six months ago shares in Thomas Cook were just below 150p now, after two profit warnings, they are worth around 25p. Thomas Cook shares plunge amid fears over £389m debt mountain.
The 177-year-old travel company scrapped its dividend last week in an effort to retain cash and blamed a disappointing year on the prolonged summer heatwave across Europe,
Stuart Gordon, an analyst at Berenberg, has followed the company closely.
“The fact is that it is a pretty structurally challenged company,” he tells the Today Programme. New players like Airbnb have entered the market and more people are booking their own holidays, and not buying package deals any more, he said.
Thomas Cook’s rival TUI, which owns the Thomson brand, is less reliant on package holidays and has a bigger cruise and hotel business.
Mr Gordon thinks Thomas Cook will need “some kind of fundraising” in the near future.
Director/PDMR Shareholding
