London de-listing likely to follow executive board change. Ian Taylor reports
The Tui Group appears poised to cut its corporate links with the UK, with the last remaining UK member of its executive board to step down at the end of the year and the company likely to propose de-listing from the London Stock Exchange (LSE) at its annual general meeting in February.
Tui will seek a more prominent listing on the German stock market in Frankfurt, where it currently has a secondary listing, if it departs the LSE.
The group gave notice that it is considering quitting the London market when issuing annual results for the 12 months to September on December 6, noting it was “recently approached by shareholders” and asked whether its current listing “is still advantageous”.
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Moving would bring cost savings and clarify the majority EU-ownership and control of Tui Airways.
Chief executive Sebastian Ebel argued there was “no political background” to the move, saying it could “just make the structure easier”, and insisted the UK remains “the most important market for us”.
Analysts suggested the move would be a blow to the London market but would make sense for Tui as its share price in London has under-performed.
While the UK remains Tui’s largest market and accounts for almost two-fifths of group revenues, three-quarters of Tui shareholders are in Continental Europe and a majority of the trading in its shares takes place on the Frankfurt exchange.
The current dual listing stems from 2014 when the German and UK businesses merged.
The link with the UK will be severed in a second way from January, when group chief executive for markets and airlines Dave Burling steps down to be replaced by David Schelp, who will rejoin the company after leaving in 2022.
Burling has been with Tui since joining Thomson Holidays in 1990.
He rose to become chief commercial officer and played a major part in the merger of Tui-owned Thomson’s tour operations with First Choice in 2007 before becoming managing director of Tui UK and Ireland in 2011.
Burling joined the Tui executive board in 2015 following the merger of German based Tui with the UK-based Tui Travel, playing a central role in integrating the companies.
German ownership of Tui extends back to 2000 when former heavy industry group Preussag acquired Thomson, renaming itself Tui in 2002.
Tourism business Tui Travel, created when the UK business merged with First Choice in 2007, was separated from German parent Tui AG in the same year and listed in London but with the German Tui retaining a 56% stake until they recombined in 2014.
Tui reported record full-year revenue of €20.7 billion for the 12 months to September 30, up 25% year on year and also up on 2019 revenue of €18.9 billion.
Ebel reported the transformation of Tui’s tour operator business would “accelerate” in 2024 and promised to “expand our market share”, forecasting group revenue would increase by at least 10% next year.
Tui’s Northern Region tour operator business, which is dominated by the UK, reported revenue of €7.7 billion with passenger numbers up 14% year on year.
The group reported €1 billion in operating profit and a net profit of just under €456 million and confirmed plans to move all its markets on to a single global platform over the next three years. Common platforms for sourcing and selling both to customers and B2B are due to be rolled out in Tui’s core markets – including the UK – in 2025.