MYTRAVEL chief executive Tim Byrne has blasted the
City for failing to understand how the travel industry works.
Under fire Byrne – who delivered an optimistic trading
statement to institutional investors last week – claimed the tour operator’s
value had fallen unnecessarily since the last time he met bankers in May.
Then, Byrne had posted a profits warning in the wake
of the post-September 11 slump and saw MyTravel shares lose a quarter of their
value.
“We knew our picture for package sales was realistic.
Unfortunately, there seems to have been some confusion in the City,” said
Byrne.
“We said the family market was not booking in the
first quarter and there was massive uncertainty. We cut capacity and have seen
a strong lates market. Our predictions have come true which shows we have
managed the business well.”
Byrne said the City had failed to take into account
the different year-end dates of MyTravel and First Choice, effectively making
his company appear less successful than its UK-listed rival.
“We had £31 million in excess losses for just October,
which fell into this year’s figures for us. It made us look especially bad,”
said Byrne.
However, MyTravel’s share price has leapt in the last
week on the back of Byrne’s revised predictions for this year. He told the City
bookings for this year were only 5% down on last year, while prices were up
around 7%. Estimated profits for the year are expected to be around £111
million.
Meanwhile, MyTravel has
appointed Telewest consumer division managing director Philip Jansen to the new
position of chief executive officer MyTravel Europe.