Kuoni back in black but doubts linger


THE world's largest long-haul holiday company, Kuoni, missed its sales forecast last year and warned today that its immediate prospects were uncertain.

Despite sales falling by 8%, rather than the 5% it had forecast last November, to Swfr3.74bn (£1.7bn) the Swiss company returned to the black in 2002. Following severe cost cutting and the elimination of loss-making holidays and aircraft, it swung from net losses of Swfr282m to profits of Swfr26m.

Kuoni explained: 'The tangible uncertainty among customers increased further towards the end of the year. Travel to and from the USA and to major vacation countries in the Middle East such as Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and - following local terrorist attacks - Kenya and the Indonesian island of Bali was hit particularly hard.'

Its outlook for the current year was not bright: 'The first trends seen in 2003 have tended to underline the fact that, like most business segments, the travel sector is being depressed by the currently unfavourable economic and political situation. The tourist industry, which had previously proved resistant to such influences, experienced stagnation in 2002, while some markets even suffered declines.

'Despite isolated positive signs, customers are still showing a clear reluctance to travel. With current market trends hard to predict, the present outlook is necessarily hazy, making it difficult to offer any reliable prognosis of future business developments,' Kuoni said.

The group said it would focus its activities on the premium end of the leisure market in Europe. It is also looking at selective acquisitions.

Kuoni back in black but doubts linger

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