Travel and tourism giant Tui reported a loss of EUR 1.5 billion (USD 1.8 billion) in the six months to the end of March as travel restrictions continue due to the COVID-19 pandemic, aircraft on the ground and hotel rooms empty let.

Shares in the German group that operates hotels, airlines, cruise ships and travel agencies and is part of the London Midcap FTSE 250
MCX, + 0.36%
Index fell 3%.

Tui
TUI -1.89%
achieved sales of € 716 million in the first half of the financial year, which corresponds to a decrease of 89% compared to the same period of the previous year. Tui’s liquidity amounted to EUR 1.7 billion on May 7, after EUR 2.1 billion at the beginning of February. Many travel and tourism companies have burned cash since the COVID-19 pandemic and virtually ceased global travel more than a year ago.

The group was optimistic about the summer travel season, even if summer bookings remain at 69% of 2019 levels. According to Tui, 2.6 million customers were currently booked for the summer of 2021, a slight decrease compared to March due to travel restrictions. Tui said it expects to be profitable again by September.

Also read: European stocks bounce back from worst day in 2021 as US futures remain negative

“The flight paths out of the crisis have been set for the world’s largest travel and tourism operator, but the damage caused by the harsh rays of COVID is profound,” said Susannah Streeter, an analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.

While Tui shares slipped in London, the FTSE was 100
UKX, + 0.94%
– The UK’s best stocks by market cap index – rose 0.7%, outperforming other major European indices as stocks rallied across the continent. The FTSE 100 fell more than 175 points on Tuesday, the largest one-day drop since September 2020.

Analysts pointed to better-than-expected economic data as a force behind the acceleration in UK stocks. The UK economy grew 2.1% in March, beating analysts’ expectations of 1.5% growth and confirming the path to a strong recovery from the COVID-19 recession.

Plus: The strong growth in March shows that the UK economy is heading for a rapid recovery

“The FTSE outperforms its European counterparts in GDP [gross domestic product] Data suggests an economic turnaround, ”said Sophie Griffiths, analyst at Oanda. “Monthly GDP for March showed a stronger-than-expected economic recovery as companies prepared to relax lockdowns and open up the economy.”

Shares in Diageo
DGE, + 3.48%,
One of the world’s largest distilleries and owners of brands like Johnnie Walker, Smirnoff, Captain Morgan and Guinness grew 3.5%. The company expects earnings growth of at least 14% for this fiscal year to outperform sales growth.

Shares in Compass
CPG, -0.10%,
the world’s largest catering group, which includes technology giant Google
TogetL, -1.39%
and the US military among its customers fell 1.5%. The group posted a profit of £ 168 million in the six months to the end of March, a decrease of more than 78% from the same period last year.

flutter
FLTR, -2.62%
The stock fell nearly 4% after the bookmaker and gambling giant delayed its plans to place FanDuel in the US and announced that its four-year-old executive would step down.

Stocks of Just Eat Takeaway
JET, -5.65%
were the biggest fallers on the FTSE 100, declining 5%. One of the food delivery group’s rivals, Delivery Hero, announced on Wednesday that it would re-enter its highly competitive home market of Germany in June. Delivery Hero sold its German activities to Just Eat Takeaway two years ago.

Read: Look out for Uber and Just Eat, Delivery Hero has its sights set on the lucrative German market

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR