TUI AG, the German tour operator that has its main listing in London, has reported a strong rise in the operating profit (EBITDA) of its cruise operations and said that the demand remains strong both in Germany and the UK.

The group’s cruise operations that comprise of a 50% stake in TUI Cruises in Germany plus the fully owned Hapag-Lloyd Kreuzfahren unit in Gernamny and Thomson Cruises in the UK, increased EBITDA by 49.3% to €67.1 million in the third quarter of the group’s financial year. This exceeded the 25.3% rise in turnover of the business, which reached €214.1 million.

In the first nine months of the group’s financial year, EBITDA rose to €147.5 million from €94.3 million, while revenues increased to €560.2 million from €479.9 million.

“TUI Cruises continues to deliver significant growth in its all inclusive German offering, whilst maintaining a strong occupancy and rate performance. Mein Schiff 6 was launched during the quarter, initially based in Kiel (Germany) before moving to New Jersey for itineraries in the USA and Caribbean,” TUI said in a statement.

“Thomson Cruises delivered significant growth in earnings, with continued modernisation of the fleet, including the launch of TUI Discovery 2 in the Mediterranean. There was also a good rate and occupancy performance across the fleet as UK demand for cruise remains very strong,” TUI continued.

Finally, earnings for Hapag-Lloyd Kreuzfahrten increased in the quarter, with overall increased average daily rate and good expedition cruise performance offsetting the lower number of operating days.

 

TUI Cruises. Occupancy rate remained stable at 101.2% in the third quarter year on, while that of Thomson cruises increased by one percentage point to 100.3%. Hapag-Lloyd Kreuzfahrten, however, experienced a drop in the figure to 73/1% from 73.4% in the third quarter of the TUI group’s financial year 2015-16.