TUI Group continues its profitable growth in H1 2014/15 / Earnings guidance confirmed

• Underlying Group EBITA grows by 20.2 per cent in H1 2014/2015
• Consolidated turnover grows by 7.3 per cent
• Source markets improve operating result by 2.1 per cent / Northern and Western Regions deliver good performance
• Hotels & Resorts: underlying EBITA +70 per cent / RIU and Robinson are growth drivers
• Cruise business remains successful / Hapag-Lloyd Kreuzfahrten achieves turnaround
• Forecast for full year confirmed: Confident of delivering underlying EBITA growth of 10 to 15 per cent*
• New Group structure strengthens integrated business model / flat hierarchies increase efficiency and agility
• Joussen: "Integration is ahead of our plan, our growth phase is gaining momentum"

In the first half of financial year 2014/15, the TUI Group has continued its profitable growth. In the period under review, the Group's underlying EBITA rose by 20.2 per cent to a seasonal loss of €272.6m (previous year €-341.4m). The result includes a book profit of €16m on the sale of a RIU hotel. Excluding this special one-off income, the growth delivered by the Group was also strong at 14.4 per cent. It was again driven, in particular, by Hotels & Resorts as well as Cruises. Turnover by the TUI Group also grew in H1 2014/15, rising by 7.3 per cent to €6.94bn (previous year €6.47bn). Around half of the increase was attributable to foreign exchange translation effects. Based on this positive performance, the Group confirms its guidance for the full year 2014/15: it remains confident of delivering operating result (underlying EBITA) growth of 10 to 15 per cent year-on-year.*

In order to account for the rapid and successful integration following the merger between TUI AG and TUI Travel PLC, the TUI Group has created a new Group structure. The Group's integrated business model will be reflected in the tourism unit in future, comprising all source markets, the expanded Hotels & Resorts business and Cruises. The source markets are grouped into three regions: Northern Region, Central Region and Western Region. The former TUI Travel PLC hotels have been allocated to Hotels & Resorts.

The bedbank Hotelbeds Group and the Specialist Group (formerly Specialist & Activity) continue to be run independently. They are grouped under "Other businesses", which also include the LateRooms Group. The Executive Board has decided to divest the LateRooms Group operating in the UK market.

Reporting will follow the new Group structure with immediate effect. The prior year's reference numbers were restated accordingly.

Fritz Joussen and Peter Long, Joint CEOs of the TUI Group: "Our post-merger integration process is ahead of our original plan. Our growth phase is gaining momentum. We are therefore adjusting our operating structures to reflect that momentum. Our new Group organisation structure is in place, providing us with a flatter management hierarchy and a more agile and efficient structure in order to secure continued growth and the future success of our Group."

Refer to full documentation in attachments box, located at the top left, below the headline.