Company Name:TUI Travel plc

Stock Market: AIM List (TT.)
Industry Sector: Leisure & Recreation Market Capitalisation: £2,526.70 million (as 16 March 2009)
Yearly Revenue: £13,931.8 million (as of 30 September 2008)
Operating Income: £184.1 million (loss)
Net Income: £270.7 million (loss)
Total Assets: £9,327.2 million

Key People: Peter J. Long (chief executive officer, executive director), J. Paul M. Bowtell (chief financial officer, executive director), Andrew L. John (group legal director, company secretary), Volker Bottcher (managing director of Central Europe and executive director), Johan Lundgren (managing director of Northern Region and executive director)

Headquarters Address: London Road, Crawley, RH10 9GX, United Kingdom
Number of Employees: approximately 50,000 (as of 30 September 2008)
Website Address: www.tuitravelplc.com

Company Overview

TUI Travel plc is one of the leading international groups for leisure travel, It operates principally through its four business sectors: Mainstream, Activity Holidays, Specialist Holidays, and Online Destination Services. The Company was formed after the union of TUI AG’s Tourism Division and First Choice Holidays plc and initially admitted on the AIM List on 3 September 2007.

The company’s Mainstream sector is involved in distributing and operating tour businesses in Northern, Western and Central Europe. It is considered to be the largest in terms of number of employees, size and underlying operating income. On the other hand, TUI travel’s business sector for Activity Holidays conducts its operation through its three market segments: Marine, Experiential, and Adventure. The sector for Specialist Holidays conducts business models exemplified by lifestyle and destination specialism, flexible flying and accommodation arrangements, and several brands in every source market. It is also comprised of three segments: Lifestages, Premium, and Destination. Finally, the company’s Online Destination Services sector is comprised of incoming agencies providing guest assistance, excursions, roundtrips, and transfer services for the company, which include its third-party tour operators and its customers.

Currently, the company operates its businesses in more than 180 countries, and it has approximately 30 million customers from 25 different source markets.

TUI Travel plc aims to create greater market value by becoming the world’s leading group offering leisure travel to its customers. If you need a hard drive to take travelling, click here for solid state disk advice.

Current Financial Overview
Based on the fiscal year end report prepared by TUI Travel plc dated 30 September 2008, the company had a significant increase in its yearly revenue of about 9%, corresponding to £13,931.8 million, compared with £12,839.9 million in the fiscal year ending 30 September 2007. The increase was brought about by an increase of about 53% in its underlying operating profit amounting to £398.0 million in the fiscal year 2008, much higher compared with £260.5 million in the fiscal year 2007. Moreover, the company’s gross profit in the fiscal year 2008 was £319.7 million, higher compared with £222.8 million in the fiscal year 2007, showing an increase of about 43%.

However, despite these increases, TUI Travel plc still suffered losses in the fiscal year 2008, shown by an operating income loss of £184.1 million and a net income loss of £270.7 million, lower compared with the operating income of £56.1 million and the net income of £6.6 million in the fiscal year 2007. The losses resulted from significant costs of restructuring the company in 2008. Additionally, its total assets in 2008 amounted to £9,327.2 million, up from £9,649.4 million in 2007.