TUI CFO Mathias Kiep on share price performance, profitability and dividend

Yes, thank you very much, Mr. Kemper, for the question. In fact, if we break it down, the feedback has been quite positive regarding developments in recent months. Since we completed the refinancing, simplified the stock structure, and returned to Frankfurt and the MDAX, the stock has developed well. But of course, as you mentioned, the absolute level and the stock reaction after our first quarter are not satisfactory. What can we do? We can continue to deliver. We've now had the tenth quarter of earnings growth, and this first quarter also contributes very well to our full-year guidance. We want to increase operating earnings by 7 to 10 percent this year. Those are essentially the facts we can offer. The nervousness in the market and the short selling are difficult for us to assess. What we see sometimes are technical effects; as the largest company in tourism, we are often lumped together with others. Nevertheless, it's important for us to consistently deliver results and achieve that 7-10% earnings growth on the 2024 result this year.

I think we've been hard to compare for years now. We went through COVID, we had invested massively to grow and were hit by the pandemic at the wrong time, and we've had to catch up in recent years. That's clear. Nevertheless, our integrated model is what we can offer. Last year we had the best result in company history, and the first quarter of 2025 was also the best first quarter. That speaks for itself and we can deliver that consistently. That's our task. You're right, the stock price is lagging, but now we are looking at other things: the hotel and cruise divisions. Both are profitable. The tour operator business, markets and airlines, remains the problem child. Why can't we make this core business more profitable?

From a shareholder perspective, a key component is to grow the company without massively investing in liabilities. That means more dynamic, more flexibility in the markets business, and growing more through dynamic capacities than through own risk. For example, this year we kept the risk capacity practically at last year's level, even slightly lower for the full year. That means we are well positioned in this very competitive market where you cannot necessarily expect to gain more volume.

I can refer to the past. The company worked hard to bring these two components together, and that's the only reason we can show this strong earnings development in hotels and cruises. This synergy is crucial for the company; it's the strength TUI can bring to the market. So to put it briefly, structurally nothing will change in the near future. That is the core of TUI: about half of the guests in the product area come from markets and airlines, and this basic utilization that the markets provide takes away risk from the products. That is decisive.

I don't think the market has changed much in recent months. We see this pattern every season: a very strong start from customers who absolutely need a specific product at a specific time, then the booking curve flattens to around last year's level, and then it accelerates again closer to departure dates. We've been seeing this pattern for the third or fourth season in a row. The market environment is competitive and we always say there is no tailwind, but it's not particularly worrying either. On the contrary, all our data and the first quarter show that significantly more customers want to travel than last year, and we even see a willingness to pay more despite the market environment.

I think the TUI brand is crucial for the company to perform well on all channels. We must continue to nurture it, whether through brand campaigns or campaigns to generate bookings. That is essential, as you pointed out.

Yes, we have clearly communicated that at the end of the year, when we publish our full-year figures for 2025, we will also disclose our strategy in this regard. First, we still have some homework to do. On that basis, we can have the right internal discussions and then present a package on how we can move forward.

We still have the issue with rating agencies open. We were very pleased to receive a double B from Fitch. Two other agencies that have been involved with us for longer are still pending. We want to wait for that and then enter into discussions with the supervisory board.

The market remains good. The topic of holiday travel is a privileged situation where demand is at least at last year's level or even higher, and there is a willingness to pay. If I look at our key performance indicators in the product area, every indicator is better than what we saw a year ago. On that basis, I believe we have good ingredients, as the first quarter also showed, so that we can achieve this 7-10% earnings growth by the end of the year.

That is the most important question. Indeed, for us as a family, we are going to Turkey.