GRAHAM HISCOTT Over-cooked Heatwave incinerates £40m of travel giant’s profits

TRAVEL giant

Thomas Cook yesterday warned the scorching summer would wipe more than £40million off its annual profits.

The industry heavyweight said the heatwave across northern Europe, including Britain, led to a big fall in people booking last-minute trips.

The firm, along with rivals, was forced to slash prices to get shot of unsold breaks.

The move will hammer Thomas Cook’s annual profits, which are now expected to be about £280million, down from previous estimates of £323m.

The update, brought forward by a day, saw Thomas Cook’s share price crash by a quarter.

It recovered later but still closed

Budget hotel chain Travelodge says economic uncertainty helped boost sales. down 28%, knocking £330m off its stock market value.

The firm said the “unprecedented” hot weather meant more people spent June and July enjoying the sunshine at home instead of going abroad.

The slowdown in bookings extended into August, leading to levels of promotional activity higher than normal.

Thomas Cook makes all its annual profits in the summer months and also warned the impact of the heatwave “is continuing to be felt into winter

Bosses said worries about the future had led to firms and individuals increasingly looking to save money, as it revealed revenues rose 8% to £317.2million in the six months to June 27. Profits increased by £1.3m to £43.3m. trading”. Chief executive Peter Fankhauser said: “Our recent trading performance is clearly disappointing.”

Bookings over the summer were up 12% as a whole, driven by the return in popularity of holidays to Turkey, Egypt, Tunisia and Greece. But its average selling price was 5% lower. However, Thomas Cook said that despite recent challenges, “we continue to make good strategic progress which positions us well to return to profitable growth”. The firm is also dealing with a fall in bookings caused by the death of British couple John and Susan Cooper at a hotel in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Hurghada in August.

Fast-growing gin makerBrockmans has toasted a 35% jump in half-year sales. Takings hit £4.7million, helped by going on sale at supermarket chains Asda and Booths.Randgold Resources and Canada’s Barrick have agreed to merge to create a £14billion gold mining giant.