Thomas Cook collapses

[Pierre]

Badly run company fails.............

[jfman]

It was hardly badly run, it ran up huge debts while handing out money right left and centre to shareholders and directors. All profiting from mergers and acquisitions along the way. That's what a company is run for, is it not? Squeezing money out for shareholders.

[denphone]

Originally Posted by jfman

It was hardly badly run, it ran up huge debts while handing out money right left and centre to shareholders and directors. All profiting from mergers and acquisitions along the way. That's what a company is run for, is it not? Squeezing money out for shareholders.

Fat cats spring to mind yet again as l have nothing against money being shared out when a company is doing well financially but the company had been in financial trouble for nearly a decade..

Manny Fontenla-Novoa, who led the acquisition spree that saddled the company with more than £1bn of debt, was handed more than £17m in just over four years as boss of Thomas Cook, boosted by bonuses awarded for slashing 2,800 jobs following the merger with MyTravel. He quit in 2011 as the tour operator came close to collapse.

His successor was Harriet Green, who was paid £4.7m for less than three years plus a share bonus worth a further £5.6m.

Peter Fankhauser, who was in charge when the company collapsed, was handed £8.3m, including £4.3m in bonuses.

[jfman]

Originally Posted by denphone

Fat cats spring to mind yet again as l have nothing against money being shared out when a company is doing well financially but the company had been in financial trouble for nearly a decade..

That's capitalism Den, as long as you're not the one left holding the baby them the job is a good one. Creditors and Government will take the hit, partially cover the pension scheme, etc.

[papa smurf]

Originally Posted by jfman

That's capitalism Den, as long as you're not the one left holding the baby them the job is a good one. Creditors and Government will take the hit, partially cover the pension scheme, etc.

That's assuming it hasn't already been emptied on the quiet.

[richard s]

What a wonderful world we live in....

[denphone]

Some financial details on Thomas Cook.

https://www.cityam.com/thomas-cook-t...tter+June+2019

In a High Court witness statement, now-former chief executive Peter Fankhauser said the firm had a balance sheet deficit of more than £3bn.

[Mythica]

Originally Posted by papa smurf

People don't tend to go into a travel agents shop any more,they organise the holiday flights/ hotel /food etc themselves [on tinterweb ]and save lots of money doing so, the business model for TC is not compatible with the world we now live in.

Part of that simply isn't true. While less and less people are going into shops people are still booking package holidays online with tour operators. It's not necessarily true that it's cheaper to book separately and go independent.

[nomadking]

Originally Posted by denphone

Some financial details on Thomas Cook.

https://www.cityam.com/thomas-cook-t...tter+June+2019

But how much of that debt originated from decisions taken more than 10

years ago?
Link

Its history left it with expensive overheads - hundreds of shops and thousands of staff.
Acquisitions left it with high debt levels, and little ability to respond to the headwinds of the travel market. Hurricanes, heatwaves and currency fluctuations have hit the company hard over the last few years.
"I think the reasons are very complex," says Amie Keeley, the head of news at Travel Weekly.
She cites some "questionable decisions" years ago, when the company was under a different management and decided to expand its shop network at a time when more people were going online.

A large chunk of the debt is related to MyTravel, bought in 2007.

Its next owner in 2001 was another German company, C&N Touristic AG, which quickly rebranded the whole business as Thomas Cook. And in 2007 the company merged with MyTravel - owner of the Airtours and Going Places brands - and became known as the Thomas Cook Group.
More acquisitions of shops and travel businesses, including websites, continued across the world.

Link

In May, the group reported a £1.5bn loss, with more than £1bn written off from the 2007 merger with MyTravel – better known for its brands Airtours and Going Places.

[papa smurf]

Originally Posted by Mythica

Part of that simply isn't true. While less and less people are going into shops people are still booking package holidays online with tour operators. It's not necessarily true that it's cheaper to book separately and go independent.

Ok point noted

[denphone]

Originally Posted by nomadking

But how much of that debt originated from decisions taken more than 10

years ago?
Link


A large chunk of the debt is related to MyTravel, bought in 2007.


Link

A substantional amount l would say.

[Mythica]

I also dislike this EU compensation law, it just seems ridiculous and cant be helping the situation.

Originally Posted by denphone

Indeed we do have a beautiful coastline in this country especially down in Devon and Cornwall.

But not the weather to go with it, thats one of the problems.
Its also quite expensive, you can book a holiday in Spain for the same [or less] as one in Devon.

[ianch99]

Originally Posted by Paul

But not the weather to go with it, thats one of the problems.
Its also quite expensive, you can book a holiday in Spain for the same [or less] as one in Devon.

Probably quicker to get there as well

[1andrew1]

Originally Posted by denphone

A substantional amount l would say.

Co-op pulled a blinder when they sold their travel agents chain to Thomas Cook. In December 2016 - therefore recently - Thomas Cook paid £56m to buy out the Co-operative in the joint venture, the two companies having previously merged their travel agency chains.
https://news.sky.com/story/co-op-tra...-sale-10685097