TUI Travel PLC, the London based tour operator whose business includes Thomson Cruises in the UK, has reported net loss of £457 million for six months to 31 March, compared to a £366 million loss in the same period last year. Revenues increased to £5.45 billion from £5.20 billion.

The company, which is also a major retailer of cruises, said the summer 2012 trading overall remains in line with expectations with continued outperformance of the market in the UK.

Peter Long, Chief Executive of TUI Travel PLC, commented: “We are pleased with our overall performance for the first half. The UK delivered a strong Winter performance, which attests to our focus on differentiated and exclusive product and being online driven – key elements of our modern mainstream strategy. Our outperformance in this market is continuing into the Summer season and we will ensure that we continue to optimise our position. In our online accommodation only businesses we continue to deliver healthy growth driven by new markets as well as increasing market share in more recently established markets. Given the challenging economic environment, we remain cautious, however, overall trading performance continues to be in line with the Board’s expectations.”