Tui Group has reported earnings growth of 12.5%, describing its move away from tour operating as "paying off".
Including the result from specialist unit Travelopia, which is available for sale and is accounted for as a discontinued operation, underlying Ebita (earnings before interest, taxes, and amortization) climbed to €1.126 billion. At constant exchange rates earnings improved by 12.5%.
Group turnover was up 1.4% to €17.76 billion at constant exchanges rates.
In December 2015, Tui announced guidance of underlying Ebita CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of at least 10% for the next three financial years to 2017/18.
This has been extended by one year to 2018/19.
Fritz Joussen, chief executive, Tui Group, said: “Tui is in good shape, the course is set for growth.
“We are in a strong position in Europe, continue our expansion, in particular in Mexico and the Caribbean, and seek to benefit from the growth momentum in other parts of the world, where more people are discovering leisure travel.
“Thanks to the global strength of the Tui brand, it offers great potential internationally.
“We invest in hotels and cruises with their strong growth and margin potential, and consistently continue Tui’s transformation initiated in 2014.
“We extend our earnings guidance to 2018/19 and aim to continue to deliver underlying Ebita CAGR of at least 10% in the next three financial years.”
He also emphasized that Tui’s transformation from a tour operator and distributor to a “designer, developer and operator of holiday concepts, hotels and cruise vessels”, initiated in 2014, was paying off.
Joussen said: “The executive board’s strategy has been confirmed.
“This transformation will create a new Tui: exceptional holiday experiences for our guests, value for our shareholders, and internationally attractive prospects for our people in more than 100 countries.”